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Exploring the Catholic Intellectual Tradition !"#$!" %& '(%!'$ ). #*%!++# The Church in the 21st FROM THE C21 CENTER DIRECTOR Center is a catalyst and a resource for the renewal of the Catholic Church.

C21 Resources, a compilation of the best analyses and essays on key challenges facing the Church today, is published by the Church in the 21st Century Center at Boston College, in partnership with the publications from which the featured articles have been selected.

C21 RESOURCES EDITORIAL BOARD Jonas Barciauskas Dear Friend: Ben Birnbaum The Church in the 21st Century (C21) Center proudly presents “Exploring the Catholic Thomas H. Groome Intellectual Tradition,” a collection of essays, reflections, prayers, art, and poems that Fr. Robert Imbelli Thomas J. Massaro, S.J. offer treasured insights into the Catholic tradition. We are honored to have collaborated Robert Newton with Fr. Robert Imbelli, the guest editor of this issue, who generously offered his passion Barbara Radtke for and a lifetime of experience teaching the Catholic intellectual tradition. Jacqueline Regan As another installment in the Sesquicentennial Series of C21 Resources, we continue to MANAGING EDITOR celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Boston College. The cover of this issue Karen K. Kiefer fittingly presents a recent sculpture of St. Ignatius of Loyola on the Boston College campus. Since being commissioned in 2006, Pablo Eduardo’s dynamic likeness THE CHURCH IN THE 21ST CENTURY CENTER of the founder of the Jesuits has transformed a common space on campus into a place boston college of contemplation, study, and conversation frequented by students, faculty, and 110 college road, heffernan house chestnut hill, massachusetts 02467 returning alumni. bc.edu/c21 The act of creating an intentional space for contemplation and conversation (where 617-552-6845 people actively engage the past seeking insights for a better future) could be a metaphor for the Catholic intellectual tradition. The Catholic intellectual tradition is one way in which the Church enlivens its people throughout the ages. It draws on the most creative expressions of believers from early times to the modern age. Theologians, philosophers, poets, musicians, mystics, sinners, and saints have devoted their talents to articulate their most intimate encounters with Christ. A key challenge posed by St. Ignatius is for us to “find God in all things,” a conviction that grace permeates all creation. From this spiritual disposition, we present the Catholic intellectual tradition with great respect for the unique perspectives and concerns of people throughout history, a celebration of individuals’ gifts and insights about God working in their lives. The Catholic intellectual tradition thus is an array of grace filled ON THE COVER expressions - emotions, passions, delights, triumphs, frustrations, and tragedies - The sculpture of St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), founder of the Society of Jesus, oriented (God willing) toward Christ. May this issue deepen your faith and ground your was created by Pablo Eduardo in 2006, relationship to the Church within a broader, a truly sacramental vision. and sits on Higgins green on the Boston College campus. If you would like to share this issue with family, friends, students, colleagues, or fellow parishioners, we are happy to fulfill requests for additional copies. I invite you also to take

PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Ofﬁce of Marketing advantage of the numerous videos and other print resources nested in the C21 website. and Communications, Gary Wayne Gilbert Most sincerely,

Erik P. Goldschmidt Director

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THE HEART HAS ITS REASONS 3 by Robert P. Imbelli

The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the University 7 by Margaret Steinfels

Revitalizing the Catholic Intellectual Tradition: 10 The Next Critical Challenge for Catholic Higher Education by Gregory A. Kalscheur, S.J. ABOUT THE EDITOR The Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Social Justice, and the University 12 ROBERT P IMBELLI, a priest of the by David Hollenbach, S.J. . Archdiocese of New York, received Faith, Reason, and Culture 14 his B.A. from Fordham University, by Pope Benedict XVI his S.T.L. from the Gregorian University in Rome, and his Ph.D. Intellect and Virtue: The Idea of a Catholic University 15 from Yale University. by John Garvey He came to Boston College in Saints Preserve Us: A Conservator Reflects on the 16 1986 as director of the Institute of Influence of Saints in the Preservation of Books Religious Education and Pastoral by Barbara Adams Hebard Ministry. He served in that position for six years before assuming Teaching and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition 20 full-time teaching responsibilities by Anna Bonta Moreland in Boston College’s Theology A Student’s Reflection 22 Department. by Katherine Martin Father Imbelli has written essays and taught graduate seminars on School of Athens, School of the Eucharist 24 Raphael’s Stanza della Segnatura the great Catholic theologians of the 20th and 21st centuries: Karl Rahner, Revisiting the Catholic Imagination 26 Hans Urs von Balthasar, Avery by Paul Mariani Dulles, and Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI. He also contributes Sing to the Lord, Make Music to God’s Name! 28 to publications like Commonweal, by John Finney America, and L’Osservatore Romano. U.S. Latinos and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition 30 He edited and wrote the introduction by Hosffman Ospino to the C21 volume Handing on the Faith: The Church’s Mission and Sesquicentennial Spotlight 33 Challenge, and has enjoyed teaching The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and Other Religions 34 the two-semester undergraduate by Catherine Cornille core course Exploring Catholicism: Tradition and Transformation. Wisdom! Let Us Be Attentive! 36 by Lawrence S. Cunningham

UPDATE CALENDAR 18–19 2 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013

At heart it’s a love story. As Robert Wilken writes in his splendid study, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought:

“The church gave men and women a new love, Jesus Christ, a person who inspired their actions and held their affections. This was a love unlike others. For it was not only that Jesus was a wise teacher or a compassionate human being who reached out to the sick and needy, or even that he patiently suffered abuse and calumny and died a cruel death, but that after his death God had raised him from the dead to a new life. He who once was dead now lives. The Resurrection of Jesus is the central fact of Christian devotion and the ground of all Christian thinking.”

And Wilken continues: “After the coming of Christ, human reason had to attend to what was new in history, the person of Jesus Christ.”

he Catholic intellectual “giving an account of the hope that understanding of reason with his stirring tradition is the two-millennia is in us” (1 Peter 3:15). St. Thomas affirmation: “the heart has its reasons Teffort to ponder the meaning Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae stands side which reason does not understand.” and implications of that new reality and by side with the great Gothic cathedrals Pascal, great mathematician and to investigate its relation to other facets whose soaring architecture inspired philosopher, was certainly not of human experience. It addresses the him. Raphael’s frescos draw liberally countenancing irrationalism, but insist- new questions that arise from humanity’s from both the sacred Scriptures and ing, with Shakespeare, that “there are ongoing discoveries in the realm of from secular sources. The poetry of more things in heaven and on earth” science and the ever more pressing Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., breathes than are dreamt of in a narrowly encounter with the other great religious the same air of truthful discovery rationalistic philosophy or a merely traditions. The Catholic intellectual as do the stupendous revelations of utilitarian science. tradition is the joyful celebration and contemporary astronomy. Indeed, The essays that follow explore the continuing exploration of what St. one of the salient contributions that multiple facets of the priceless diamond Augustine called the “beauty that is ever the Catholic intellectual tradition that is the Catholic intellectual ancient, ever new.” can make to our contemporary tradition: its varied expressions in It should be noted at the outset conversation is to resist reducing theology and philosophy, natural law that the word “intellectual” is not reason to the merely pragmatic or and morality, scientific research and used here in a narrowly academic or technical and to restore our sense of artistic creativity. There also emerges merely conceptual sense. Augustine’s wonder at a universe “charged with from them an enhanced conviction invocation of “beauty” is a clear signal the glory of God.” of the responsibility incumbent upon that the aesthetic enjoys equal rights Already at the dawn of modernity the Catholic university to steward and of citizenship with the conceptual in Pascal cautioned against a reductive advance that tradition.

3 One can, of course, rightfully now to the “Incarnation,” I depart Catholic philosopher Charles Taylor. distinguish sub-traditions within the somewhat from the opening of the At the conclusion of his monumental great tradition, like branches arising essay that stressed Christ’s resurrection. work, A Secular Age, Taylor writes from the mighty river. Franciscan and But my suggestion is that we might that Christianity “is the faith of the Dominican, Benedictine and Ignatian better consider the Incarnation not as Incarnate God.” But he adds, perhaps sensibilities can complement and a mere point in time, an instantaneous surprisingly, that we need “to struggle to even compete with one another. Both happening, but as the entire process recover a sense of what the Incarnation contemplative and active commitments, of God entering fully into the human can mean.” The question thus arises: concern for justice and care for the earth, condition even unto death and new Why the struggle? Has not the Catholic can find there ample resources and life. Thus, Incarnation culminates intellectual tradition over the centuries generous hospitality. The various sub- in resurrection, in humanity fully clarified in carefully honed doctrines traditions surely sensitize to features transformed in the Glory of God. and decisions its meaning? I think it essential to a fuller understanding of the Resurrection is the goal of Incarnation. fair to say that Taylor is not so much Catholic tradition and are omitted at the speaking of doctrinal clarifications peril of an only partial vision. Indeed, as concrete implications. What does one constitutive meaning of “catholic” incarnation faith call us to? What are is “comprehensive:” embracing the The Catholic its challenges to us, particularly in a whole. And a Catholic university has the intellectual tradition is secular age? crucial responsibility of incorporating the richness of diversity within the the joyful celebration The Threat to Incarnation common search for truth and wisdom From its very beginning the Catholic that constitutes a distinctive community and the continuing intellectual tradition confronted a of mind and heart: an “alma mater.” significant threat to its incarnational exploration of what faith. The movement known as The Gift of Incarnation “gnosticism” maintained that God However, though there are St. Augustine called would never contaminate himself by multiple strands of the Catholic entering fully into the human condition, intellectual tradition, multiple ways the “beauty that is ever taking on the burdens of the body and of bringing it to expression, there is ancient and ever new.” the horrors of history. Though the name an underlying “depth grammar” that can sound esoteric, gnosticism remains each particular representation must a potent and perennial temptation. embody and exemplify. Many of the Charles Taylor has helpfully provided a essays gathered here speak explicitly Moreover, the Good News is term that suggests, by way of contrast, of this depth grammar, referring to it that with the resurrection of Jesus, this perennial threat to faith in the as “incarnational” and “sacramental.” humanity’s own destiny is both revealed Incarnation. He calls it “excarnation.” They celebrate “a sacramental vision of and enabled. Jesus not only shows the Excarnation is humankind’s inveterate reality,” a sense that material reality, the way, he creates the way in his own risen tendency to shun matter in its messiness. body, the flesh (though always prone to body. In one of his last poems, “That It represents the contemporary form of being distorted by sin) is fundamentally Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of gnosticism. Thus, it disparages the body good, because created by God. the comfort of the Resurrection,” the and the consequences of embodiment, But the Catholic intellectual tradition Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins such as history, community, and goes further yet. “Incarnational” exclaimed: the physical environment. This and “sacramental” are not just ideas, “In a flash, at a trumpet crash, excarnational attitude denies the need abstract principles. They are rooted I am all at once what Christ is, for, even the very intelligibility of in the concrete, indeed in a person. since he was what I am, and This language about “solidarity” and the For the overarching confession, the Jack, joke, poor potsherd, patch, “common good,” which permeates and article upon which the whole tradition matchwood, immortal diamond, orients Catholic teachings about social stands or falls, is its confession of Is immortal diamond. justice and environmental concern. the Incarnation. God’s eternal Word Taylor has further aided our coming entered fully into the human condition, This robust sense of Jesus’ to grips with the challenge we face into human history with its hope Incarnation, culminating in his by contributing another term: the and joy, its suffering and pain. The resurrection from the dead, stands at “buffered self.” The buffered self “incarnational principle” is founded the very heart of the Catholic wisdom is one that resists relationships and upon the Person, Jesus Christ. tradition. It has been powerfully re- commitments, prizing its individual It may appear that, in appealing affirmed recently by the Canadian autonomy above all. Such a self is ever

4 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 more constricted and confined, the less inflict death, but enters into death Paschal Mystery more vividly than very opposite of catholic. in order to transform it. Jesus’ cross the resplendent 12th-century mosaic If excarnation truly characterizes incarnates God’s supreme Word of that fills the apse of the Basilica of San much of the contemporary individual love: “my body for you.” Clemente in Rome (image on page 2). and societal mind-set and behavior, Hence the Church’s liturgical It depicts the cross of Christ as the then the challenge of faith in the tradition acclaims that Christ, by his Tree of Life. The face of the crucified Incarnate God, as articulated in the cross and resurrection, has conquered Christ radiates peace. At the foot of Catholic intellectual tradition, is bound sin and death and set humankind free. the cross stand the Mother of Jesus to exhibit a countercultural dimension. And the Catholic intellectual tradition, and the Beloved Disciple, in rapture It will advocate a fundamental option from Augustine and Aquinas to at the redemption wrought. They are for the needy and dispossessed, the Charles Taylor and Joseph Ratzinger/ both concrete individuals and symbols biblical “widow and orphan:” those Pope Benedict XVI, has sought to of the Church that arises from Christ’s who have no “buffer,” who enjoy no give a reasoned account of the hope sacrifice. Perched on the cross the 12 privilege. In resisting the culture’s that the Christ’s life-giving death and doves, representing the 12 apostles, excarnational tendencies, the Catholic resurrection to new life has revealed, ready themselves to fly off, in the intellectual tradition (and its bearer: and to ponder its implications for power of the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the Catholic university) will echo, to persons and for society. the Good News to the four corners of some degree, St. Paul’s injunction to the world. the Romans: “Do not be conformed But the extraordinary vision of to this world, but be transformed by the anonymous artists is yet more the renewal of your mind; that you PRAYER OF ST. catholic. From the cross flow streams may prove what is the will of God, THOMAS AQUINAS of living water and from them springs what is good and acceptable and a verdant acanthus bush. Its swirling perfect” (Rom 12:2). branches enfold and fondle humans in But the Catholic tradition offers O Lord my God, grant me their multiple activities: farming and still further insight. It traces the shepherding, building and studying. understanding to know You, excarnational forces operative Women and men, monks and laborers, in humankind to the dread of its zeal to seek You, even pagan gods are gathered into a vulnerability in the face of death. holy communion: sacred and secular Thus, we erect defenses and concoct wisdom to ﬁnd You, united in harmony. The crucified stratagems to ward off threats, both and risen Christ reconciles and real and imagined. In so doing the a life that is pleasing to You, recapitulates not only humanity, but paradoxical result is that these control all creation. strategies can quickly turn death- unshakable perseverance, Splendid as the masterpiece is it dealing: violating relationships, and a hope that will one day only serves as backdrop for the altar scapegoating, ultimately eliminating upon which the Eucharist is daily the other who is feared as an enemy. embrace You. celebrated, extending Christ’s life- Humanity’s history, from Cain to the giving sacrifice in space and time. atrocities of the 20th century, bears Here art cedes to reality: The bread abundant and depressing witness and wine, fruit of the earth and work to where the “logic” of excarnation As mentioned earlier, great works of human hands, become the very body finally leads. of art can communicate as effectively, and blood of Christ. and certainly more affectively, than It is quite possible, I like to think The Cross as the Tree of Life the necessarily abstract renderings probable, that Dante Alighieri paused No wonder, then, that the cross of philosophers and theologians. to contemplate the mosaic and to stands as the privileged Christian Dostoevski’s The Brothers Karamzov is participate in the Eucharist at San symbol. For the Incarnation, the the magnificent unfolding, through Clemente during his stay in Rome. The entrance into the human condition the heights and depths of human experience may have sustained him on of the Son of God, could not bypass relationships, of a single verse from the his own transformative journey that death. The tradition marvels that Gospel of John that serves as epigraph gave birth to the Catholic intellectual God so loved the world that he gave to the novel. “Amen, amen, I say to tradition’s greatest poem. The Divine his only Son, and the Son so loved us you: unless a grain of wheat falls into Comedy is certainly the story of an that he gave himself for our salvation. the earth and dies, it remains alone; but individual learning how to love truly, The cross represents this wondrous if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24). purged of self-centeredness and freed love that does not deny death, much But no work of art depicts this to love generously. But it tells a tale 5 that transcends the individual and the ground of all Christian thinking.” implications of the inexhaustible history itself. It sings a love song that One often hears that there are three Mystery of Jesus Christ, to give is cosmic in scope, because the Triune great religions of the Book: Judaism, expression to the reasons of the heart. God it celebrates is recognized, in the Christianity, and Islam. There is much As the following essays show, that final ecstatic verse of the poem, to be truth in that perspective; but it risks quest continues today. The essays “the Love that moves the sun and the slighting a unique distinctiveness. represent, if you will, tesserae in the other stars.” Christianity certainly gives pride of many-splendored mosaic that is the The Incarnation of God’s love is not place to both Old and New Testaments Catholic intellectual tradition. primarily a fact of the past. The risen in its liturgy and theology. But ROBERT P. IMBELLI is the editor of this issue of Christ is present in the community Catholicism in particular is far better . gathered in his Name, present in the described as the religion of the one to PHOTO CREDITS: Page 2: The Cross as the Tree of Life Word proclaimed, and especially in whom the Book points: the person of from the apse mosaic from Basilica San Clemente in the Eucharist celebrated. It is for this Jesus Christ. Rome, 12th century. Copyrighted by the Wikimedia reason that Robert Wilken insists: The Catholic intellectual tradition, Foundation. | Page 6: Jonathan Petersen ‘11, at the “The Resurrection of Jesus is the in its multiple forms, is the quest Great Saint Bernard Pass in Switzerland, next to central fact of Christian devotion and to explore the significance and the monastery of St. Bernard, while traveling with Nathaniel Sanders ’12, and Kevin Morris ‘12.

6 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013

atholic intellectual life is central to Catholic more experiential, open to both old and new currents of identity. It is fundamental to the life of the Church, spirituality and meditation; it absorbs individualistic and C big C and little c, cathedral and congregation—to congregational attitudes from American religion generally. its continued vitality and to the Church’s missions in this But Catholicism is also and always has been a Church with culture. This is not a narrow ecclesiastical tradition, but a a brain, with a mind. So as important as these new manifes- broad and inﬁnitely useful one. tations may be, it is essential to the Church, to its mission This tradition is carried on, pursued, criticized, devel- in the world, to the lives of ordinary people, that there be a oped, wrestled with by people from many different back- vigorous and Catholic intellectual life. grounds. The way they think and write, read, and reﬂect Yes, carrying on this tradition is an enormous challenge. very frequently rests on their education in American You have to overcome bigotry and bias, including especially Catholic colleges and universities. So along with the pres- the prejudices Catholics themselves have against their own ervation of knowledge, the scholarly work of retrieval, the tradition. A Catholic intellectual is not an oxymoron. You building up of bodies of knowledge, and the education of do not have to be a Jesuit to be a Catholic intellectual. Yes, the young, your schools are central to the practice of the Catholicism and Catholic ideas have a checkered history. Catholic intellectual life. Colleges and universities cannot What institution, tradition, idea does not? From Plato to claim to be Catholic if this tradition is not part of its core Foucault, from nominalism to deconstructionism, if human understanding; this tradition cannot survive if Catholic col- ideas have consequences, we can be sure some of them are leges and universities do not renew it, maintain it, nourish bad. We have our fair share. it, support it, and pass it on. Many people, perhaps some of you, consider that the In the last several decades, Catholicism in the United Catholic intellectual tradition is singular in its intellectual States has become more charismatic, more Pentecostal, repression and oppression, its narrowness and dogmatism.

7 Well, I say go read a history book! Some of you may be the individual, the subjective, the emotional, the immedi- skeptical that the adjective Catholic adds anything to an in- ate. In public life, religion and religious belief are confined stitution or discipline except the judicial authority of ec- to the realm of the private and personal, sometimes in an clesiastical officials. I disagree. For 2,000 years, Christians absolutist reading of the First Amendment, sometimes with have struggled in multifarious ways with everything from the prejudice that religious thought has nothing to con- body and soul to kingship and regicide, from usury to vol- tribute. For the revivalist, faith is a personal and private untary poverty, and today still struggle with everything encounter. For many in the cultural elite, as Stephen Carter from medical decision making to political theory, from argued in The Culture of Disbelief, faith is understood as a child care to spiritual counsel, from race to gender. It is curious avocation, a personal hobby. this tradition that pressed through the centuries the idea of It is a loss to the whole society when any religious group civilian immunity in war. The distinction between ordinary accepts that role. In contrast, Catholics—the bishops, but and extraordinary care of the sick and the dying remains a many Catholic politicians and citizens as well—have often viable one because this tradition teaches it. brought a philosophical and linguistic sophistication to It is a deep and rich tradition; it is a tradition worthy of public policy issues. If, for example, laws that would permit our attention and study. If this tradition does not have a euthanasia and assisted suicide are kept at bay in the United place in Catholic colleges and universities, what is that you States, it will be because the bishops, Catholic institutions, are doing? What tradition has a better claim? nurses, doctors, lawyers, ordinary citizens have been will- All thinkers and thinking are based in some tradition. A ing to express their deeply held beliefs, religious and philo- tradition is not a browned and dried- up certificate of de- sophical, in a reasoned discourse that can build consensus posit in the bank of knowledge, but a locus for questioning, across the whole society. a framework for ordering inquiry, a standard for preferring A second and closely related characteristic: Catholics some sets of ideas over others; tradition is the record of have a tradition that takes philosophy and philosophical a community’s conversation over time about its meaning thinking seriously. This means that from the beginning, and direction. A living tradition is a tradition that can raise Christianity had to adapt systems of thought that were questions about itself. alien and even contrary to its religious beliefs and yet were What am I talking about? Let me at least sketch what I crucial to its mission: that is, rendering its knowledge of think the Catholic intellectual tradition looks like. God’s presence and action in the world in a way that would “The joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the wom- make sense to others. en and men of our time, especially those who are poor or We don’t usually think of Paul of Tarsus as a philoso- afflicted in any way, are the joy and hope, the grief and pher, but there he was in the agora debating Epicureans and anguish of the followers of Christ as well. Nothing that Stoics, and in front of the Areopagus explaining the hereto- is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts.... fore unknown God. Nor did it stop there. Eusebius, Bede, Christians cherish a feeling of deep solidarity with the Augustine, Ambrose, Anselm, Thomas, Catherine, Teresa, human race and its history.’’ That opening paragraph etc., right down to our own time: American Catholic col- from Gaudium et Spes speaks of our responsibility for all leges and universities in the years after World War II were that is genuinely human, for what draws the minds and often the home to diverse philosophical schools—phenom- hearts of women and men. The Catholic intellectual tra- enology, existentialism, Hegelianism, liberalism, pragma- dition is universal in its breadth and its interests, that is tism, and Thomism—at a time when secular schools prided a notion set forth, defended, repeated, and encouraged themselves on a univocal voice in their philosophy depart- throughout the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in ments. The sometimes imperfect hospitality in our tradi- the Modern World. tion expresses the conviction that a disciplined mind and As Gaudium et Spes says, our tradition is not set against systematic thought can help discern important things about the world. But neither is it naively accepting of every cur- what is real. rent of opinion that washes up on the shores of a pluralis- A third characteristic: Our tradition challenges the belief tic culture. It helps us to maintain a robust and refreshing that facts come in pristine form—no baggage; no assump- level of skepticism. What do I find of value? A tradition tions, no preconditions, no ends, no language that fills it where reason and discourse based on reason are honored with meaning. Our culture likes to treat facts as a given, as and practiced. autonomous, unadorned objective realities; but a fact is an Let me describe just a few of its characteristics. abstraction from something thicker and deeper containing First, reason and faith are not antagonistic or uncon- implicit ends, whether or not the researcher, commentator, nected. In the Catholic tradition we do not accept what we or scholar acknowledges them. There are virtually no value- believe blindly or slavishly—we are urged to think about free facts, from the construction of public opinion polls to and to understand what we believe. This is in some contrast descriptions of brain synapses or histories of the decision to the society in which we live. American culture, with its to drop the bomb on Hiroshima. The Catholic tradition Protestant history, tends to see religion as an expression of reminds us that the fact/value distinction is practically a nil

8 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 one, although our tradition is tempted sometimes to think there can be fact- free values. Nonetheless, in our tradition epistemology and ethics are always interrelated. So, for example, the notion that education can be a value- neutral process in which teachers simply convey facts and the students simply receive them, in which behavior is neither right nor wrong but a matter of personal choice, in which judgments are neither better nor worse but simply someone’s opinion, is nonsense, as the condition of so many schools grimly illustrates. This same analysis could be applied to psychotherapy, opinion polling, political analyses, medical decision making. This brings me to a fourth and last point: It is a characteristic of our tradition, at its best, to resist reduction- ism; it does not collapse categories. Faith and reason are compatible but not equivalent. Our tradition rejects fun- damentalistic readings of Scripture; the human person is neither radically individualistic nor socially determined. Empirical findings are not solely determinative of who we are and what we do. Yes, absolutely: Findings in psychol- ogy, sociology, anthropology, history, neurobiology enrich our understanding of the human person and the human project, but they do not exhaust that meaning or determine that trajectory. We are neurons and neuroses, but not only neurons and neuroses; neither DNA or TGIF fully determine who we are or what we will do this weekend. There is space for grace and free will, thought, conscience, choice. Time flies, and the list goes on: Symbolism is taken seriously; so is analogical reasoning; images provide us with the human person at the center of our inquiry. The human alternative ways of knowing. All of these are implanted in person must be seen in his or her social context, where an minds and hearts by our sacramental and liturgical practic- implicit and shared understanding of the good can be found es. Our tradition takes mysticism seriously, so we know that and expressed. ordinary everyday consciousness is not the last word about All of this is deeply congruent with a religious tradition reality. The practice of caring for the poor and thinking that is incarnational and sacramental, that keeps before us about caring for them shapes political philosophy and so- the idea of a God who acts in history on our behalf, a God cial theory. The struggle everywhere to link faith and cul- who sent Jesus, who lived among us, who taught, who died ture blesses us with an abundance of fictional worlds from for us, who rose from the dead and is present in the eucha- Shusaku Endo’s Deep River to Isabel Allende’s Eva Luna. rist. We are to love the Lord and love one another as he has To sum up: Yes, these characteristics can be found in loved us. other traditions. Yes, the Catholic tradition has been un- And there’s the rub and that’s the challenge. Catholic true to them at times or embraced them only kicking and higher education, Catholic identity, Catholic intellectual screaming; but finally they have been embraced because life, the Catholic Church and its work in the world must our tradition becomes part of the culture in which it finds finally be the work of a community of believers. In our itself—it must become part of the culture intellectually as culture that is a suspect category, nowhere more so than in in all other ways. Why? Because of its mission to transform the university. the world, as we read in Gaudium et Spes (No. 40): The MARGARET STEINFELS is the past editor of , and currently serves Church, a visible organization and a spiritual community, as founding co-director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham “travels the same journey as all humankind and shares the University. same earthly lot with the world; it is to be a leaven and, as Article previously published in spring 2007 it were, the soul of human society in its renewal by Christ PHOTO CREDITS: Page 7: Student panel discussion, and transformation into the family of God.” with moderator Kerry Cronin. Photo courtesy of Office of Marketing Today in our culture, where the commodification of Communications, Caitlin Cunningham. | Page 9: Georges Rouault (French, human life, human relationships, body parts goes on ev- 1871-1958), , 1946. Copyright ARS, NY. erywhere, that engagement, that mission, means keeping

can’t understand it,” she wailed. “I sent her to Catholic be, the special intellectual legacy of the Catholic university school for 12 years and she doesn’t even go to church!” “is distinguished by its free search for the whole truth about IIf I had a nickel for every time a parent said those nature, man, and God.” Rather than exploring the implica- words (substitute “religious education” for “Catholic tions of this dynamic legacy, discussions of Ex Corde Ecclesiae school”), I would be gainfully unemployed. While some sometimes seemed more inclined to focus on presumed ten- parents couldn’t care less or, worse, don’t even notice, most sions between maintaining academic freedom and protect- parents and even grandparents are appalled that ing orthodoxy. One could get the impression that not their children, especially their 16- to 22-year- inviting certain speakers, not honoring certain olds, seem to have forsaken their heritage, public officials, or not hiring so many non- their Catholic faith. Catholics was more important than en- Determined to clarify their couraging the university community Roman Catholic identity in the face to engage the full range of authen- of potent secularizing trends and tically human questions opened concerns that they had sacrificed up by a commitment to pursue their Catholic distinctiveness the whole truth about nature, for secular academic respect- the human person, and God, ability, Catholic colleges and wherever that search for truth universities in the United might lead. States over the past 20 years Te n y e a r s a f t e r Ex Corde have adopted new mission was formally adopted by U.S. statements and added person- Catholic bishops in 2001, nel and programs designed Catholic colleges and uni- to reemphasize the religious versities today must meet the dimensions of the Catholic col- challenge to reaffirm and re- lege experience. vitalize their engagement with Today at many Catholic colleg - the Catholic intellectual tradition. es, students and parents find explicit Failure to do so will mean that they attention to the Catholic nature of the are content by default to risk leaving institution: a wide variety of programs Catholic identity to what happens out- aimed at students’ spiritual and religious side the classroom by abandoning the con- formation, numerous well-attended Masses and viction that, to be authentically Catholic, they retreat experiences geared to young adults, service programs must integrate their 2000-year intellectual legacy into the reaching out in all directions, and encouragement of stu- academic life of their campuses. dents to discern not only what career they will pursue after Admittedly, getting hold of the Catholic intellectual tra- college but what kind of persons they will become. More and dition is a challenge. It contains a vast repository of theologi- more Catholic college undergraduates are being challenged cal thought; philosophizing; devotional practices; works of to explore the vocation in life to which God is calling them. literature, visual art, music, and drama; styles of architecture; But this rich set of opportunities for student personal, jurisprudential principles; social and political theorizing; and spiritual, and religious formation seems not always to have other forms of cultural expression that have emerged in vast- been matched by a parallel interest in and emphasis on reaf- ly different parts of the world in the course of 2,000 years of firming and revitalizing engagement with the Catholic intel- Christian religious experience. lectual tradition. As Pope John Paul II explained in Ex Corde For Christians, the dialogue between faith and culture is Ecclesiae, his 1990 vision of what a Catholic university should as old as their earliest efforts to articulate what it means to be

10 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 a distinctive faith community. As the Christian way moved in a range of ways. This persuasion challenges a Catholic beyond its original Jewish communities, attracted Gentile university to engage all people, cultures, and traditions in converts, and spread across the Roman world and beyond, authentic conversation—conversation undertaken in the a Christian intellectual tradition developed, which was the belief that by talking across traditions we can grow in shared product of a continuous dialogue between faith and cultures. understanding that opens all parties to the possibility of This dialogue reflected two essential characteristics of the changing their views. Christian, and especially the Catholic, understanding of hu- In my own work at Boston College Law School, I draw man experience: that faith necessarily seeks understanding, on the Catholic intellectual tradition in exposing my Civil and that all intellectual inquiry leads eventually to questions Procedure students to Martin Luther King’s Letter from the of ultimacy that invite faith responses. As a result, reason has Birmingham Jail and its discussion, informed by Augustine been intrinsic to the life of the Catholic Church, which sees and Aquinas, of the natural law understanding of the differ- the search for truth as a manifestation of the Creator. For ence between just and unjust laws. I ask those same students the Catholic, thinking is part of believing, and the Catholic to think about what sort of person they are becoming and view sees no conflict among faith, knowledge, and reason; it what sort of world they are shaping as they learn to use the looks to how they illuminate one another. The most probing power and the legal tools that our procedural system makes questions in every discipline are never deemed to be in op- available to lawyers. I also offer a seminar on Catholic Social position to faith, but are welcomed into the conversation on Thought and the Law that allows students to explore the the conviction that ongoing discovery of the intelligibility of Catholic vision of the person, the relationship between the the universe will reveal more of the truth about God. person and society, and the role played by law as an institu- In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “the world of reason tion in structuring the good or just society. But a Catholic and the world of faith—the world of secular rationality and university’s engagement with the tradition must go beyond the world of religious belief—need one another and should the content of any particular course. The shared project of not be afraid to enter into a profound and ongoing dialogue, the university is enlivened by the tradition whenever facul- for the good of our civilization.” This is a two-way process. ty and students across the disciplines begin to understand Reason plays a purifying role within religion, while religion themselves as more explicitly engaged in a conversation with supplies a corrective to reason, reminding reason to take full one another and with seekers of truth around the world and account of the dignity and destiny of the human person. across time, together working toward the freedom, whole- At my own Jesuit Catholic university, we’ve tried to invite ness, and fullness of life that God desires for God’s creation. people to enter into this expansive dialogue in search of truth, Over the long history of the tradition, there have been meaning, and justice through the publication of a document times when the dialogue between faith and reason has been entitled The Catholic Intellectual Tradition: A Conversation at difficult—times when Church teaching and secular scholarly Boston College. Our hope is that that the search for truth in research have stood in tension. During such times, the tra- all disciplines can be enriched by engagement with the tradition, at its best, has urged more careful inquiry on both dition, because it is our conviction that, in the words of the sides, confident that even though “there may be momentary Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, “[t]he world is charged collisions, awkward appearances, and many forebodings and with the grandeur of God.” The Catholic intellectual tra- prophecies of contrariety,” as Cardinal John Henry Newman, dition is at work whenever questioning in any field is open the great 19th-century scholar, has put it, the unity of truth to moving out of narrow disciplinary isolation and toward will ultimately be seen. the horizon of human dignity, the common good, and the Catholic colleges and universities today must build upon wholeness and fullness of life that the Christian tradition the good work they have done in providing rich formational calls God’s reign. opportunities to their students by enlivening engagement The Catholic intellectual tradition that flows out of this with the Catholic intellectual tradition on their campuses, dialogue is a living tradition, not a static traditionalism, which thus living up to the deepest meanings and aspirations of the draws from the riches of the past to give life to the future; a Catholic university. simultaneous capacity for continuity and change gives it a American higher education and society will be enriched growing edge, allowing it to develop in new ways even as it by Catholic universities embodying in our national retains its firm roots in the foundational Catholic worldview. conversation the Catholic intellectual ideal of a mutually In the Catholic university, wisdom accumulated in the past is illuminating relationship between religious faith and free handed on, criticized, reworked, and re-appropriated in re- intellectual inquiry. sponse to new questions prompted by new experience, new GREGORY A. KALSCHEUR, SJ, is an associate professor at Boston College evidence, new arguments, and new interlocutors. This way Law School. of proceeding gives life to the Catholic intellectual tradition. Reprinted with permission. A university animated by the Catholic intellectual tradi- PHOTO CREDIT: Page 10: Photo courtesy of Office of Marketing Communications, tion embraces all who are dedicated to learning from one Gary Wayne Gilbert. another, and remains open to contributions that may come

he United States and the increasingly interconnected global society of today face Tdaunting challenges in their efforts to secure justice for all their people. The Catholic intellectual tradition possesses some distinctive resources that can help respond to these challenges. Thus, Catholic universities can draw on this tradition to make significant contributions to social justice in our nation and our world. It is the role of the university—above all of the Catholic university—to retrieve, criticize, and reconstruct understandings of the human good and thus of social justice. The Catholic university should be a place where professors and students bring their received tradition’s understandings of how people should live together into intelligent and criti- Inequality, Poverty, and the Meaning of Justice cal encounter with understandings held by other peoples Our country and our globalizing world are also chal- with other traditions. lenged by deep inequalities and poverty. We are in urgent In particular, the university should be a place for criti- need of an understanding of social justice that helps us ad- cal exploration of the ways diverse religious communities dress these problems. Our society is often quite inarticulate envision our shared life with one another. This is especially when it comes to expressing the meaning and basis of its needed in a world where religious difference sometimes fundamental moral values. The argument about the mean- threatens to become violent conflict. ing of justice, of course, is as old as Western civilization. One of the most important contributions of the Catholic It goes all the way back to Moses and the prophets in the intellectual tradition to such exploration of religion is its Hebrew Bible and to the pre-Socratics and Plato in Greece. conviction that religious faith and human reason need not This argument has been brought to vigorous new life in conflict but can be mutually illuminating. Religion is not our own day through the important religious contributions simply an irrational force to be controlled or eliminated of liberation theology and in the renewed philosophical from the lives of persons committed to the life of the intel- debate launched by John Rawls. The university is a major lect. Therefore, the careful study of religion should be ful- venue where ideas about the meanings of justice and their ly at home within the intellectual forum of the university. relevance to our life together must be explored. Such study can lead not only to private self-understanding The moral norm of justice has deep roots in the Catholic but to publicly relevant proposals for how we can live to- intellectual tradition. For example, Thomas Aquinas drew gether in peace and justice. on the Bible’s double commandment to love God with all

12 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 one’s heart and to love one’s neighbor as oneself to affirm Suffering and Hope that a right relation to God requires commitment to the Ideas such as these can open the minds of those who common good of our neighbors. Aquinas synthesized this grapple with the Catholic intellectual tradition to hope for biblical argument with Aristotle’s insistence that the good a more just society. They can also help us see and take seri- of the community should set the direction for the lives of ously the stark realities of human suffering in our world, individuals, for it is a higher or more “divine” good than such as grave poverty, massive displacement of refugees by the particular goods of private persons. Thus, for Aquinas, war, and tragic levels of HIV-AIDS infection across much as for Aristotle, justice calls for commitment to the building of Africa. These are but a few manifestations of the long up of the civitas or polis. In the terms we would use today, history of human being’s sinful propensity to treat one justice requires social solidarity and mutual responsibility another in inhuman ways. The Catholic intellectual tradi- for one another. tion is deeply committed to the conviction that a Christian When the Catholic intellectual tradition uses the term humanism is both possible and required by Christian faith social justice, it is not concerned simply with one-to-one itself. But this must be a humanism that pays serious atten- relations among the individual members of society. Social tion not only to the heights to which human culture can justice addresses the economic and political structures and rise but also to the depths of suffering into which societies institutions through which our life together is organized. can descend. These structures and institutions should themselves be There are strong currents in American academic life characterized by solidarity, i.e., they should be marked by today that insulate both professors and students from ex- reciprocal inclusiveness rather than by exclusion and in- perience of the human suffering in our world and rigor- equality. The inclusive solidarity is demanded by the equal ous reflection on it. The Catholic intellectual tradition is dignity of every person as created in the image of God and actually inseparable from a broader and deeper spiritual as having a capacity for freedom and reason. tradition that includes mercy as one of its central virtues. This solidarity will require cooperation across the Aquinas saw prudence and justice as the central moral vir- deep economic divisions that separate the poor living in tues in the moral life of all humans. But he saw mercy—the core U.S. cities from the well-off upper middle class of ability to feel and respond to the suffering of a person in American suburbs. Such divisions are the very opposite of need—as the most God-like of virtues. The Catholic tradi- solidarity. Solidarity and social justice also raise challenges tion, therefore, in both its intellectual and spiritual dimen- on the international level. The much discussed phenome- sions, calls all those who share it to open their eyes to see non of globalization points to new links among nations and and their hearts to feel the pain that mars the lives of so peoples that are developing today on multiple levels. From many men and women in our world today. the standpoint of social justice as understood in Catholic In Catholic universities this will mean serious efforts to tradition, some aspects of this thickening web of interde- link rigorous academic programs with carefully designed pendence must be judged negative, others are positive. The service learning. It suggests that professors in at least some negative face of globalization is evident in the continuing areas will be engaged in both teaching and research that reality of massive poverty in some developing countries, seeks new understanding of the suffering in our world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. To be sure, markets and what its causes are, and how to begin to alleviate it. Such trade can be engines of improved well-being. But many endeavors are under way already in many Catholic institu- people, perhaps the majority in the poor countries of sub- tions of higher learning. Saharan Africa, lack all access to these markets and so do The Catholic tradition makes the extraordinary claim not benefit from them. Exclusion and marginalization again that the ultimate ground of meaning for all human strug- appear as the markers of the injustice that causes poverty. gles is a compassionate God who both understands and The alternative to this exclusion is a pattern of interac- even shares human suffering. This belief can sustain hope tion characterized by inclusion and reciprocity. The United and courage in the face of the conflicts and injustices of our States Catholic Bishops have called such inclusion the most world. In my judgment, this is the deepest source of the basic requirement of justice. In a just society all persons and Catholic tradition’s contribution to social justice. It is most groups should be able to attain at least “minimum levels of relevant to the task of the Catholic university today. participation” in the life of the community. Put in negative terms, the ultimate injustice occurs when persons or groups DAVID HOLLENBACH, S.J., holds the University Chair and is the director of the Center for Human Rights at Boston College. are treated as if they were not members of the human fam- Reprinted with permission, ily. Inclusion and participation based on equality are the . fundamental requirements of social justice as these are un- PHOTO CREDIT: Page 12: Meg Stapleton Smith ‘13, while studying abroad in El derstood in the Catholic tradition. Salvador. Photo by Anthony J. Medina, Loyola University Maryland ‘13. 13

aith by its specific nature is problem for legislators to solve, but a is need for what might be called a hu- an encounter with the living vital contributor to the national con- man ecology, correctly understood. FGod—an encounter opening versation (“Address at Westminster The deterioration of nature is in fact up new horizons extending beyond the Hall,” London). closely connected to the culture that sphere of reason. But it is also a puri- Development must include not just ma- shapes human coexistence: when “hu- fying force for reason itself. . . . Faith terial growth but also spiritual growth, man ecology” is respected within society, enables reason to do its work more ef- since the human person is a “unity of environmental ecology also benefits. Just fectively and to see its proper object body and soul,” born of God’s creative as human virtues are interrelated, such more clearly (“Deus Caritas Est,” 28). love and destined for eternal life…. that the weakening of one places oth- The conviction that there is a There cannot be holistic development and ers at risk, so the ecological system is Creator God is what gave rise to the universal common good unless people’s based on respect for a plan that affects idea of human rights, the idea of the spiritual and moral welfare is taken into both the health of society and its good equality of all people before the law, account, considered in their totality as relationship with nature (Encyclical, the recognition of the in- “Caritas in Veritate,” 51). violability of human dignity It is not the elemental in every single person, and spirits of the universe, the the awareness of people’s re- laws of matter, which ulti- sponsibility for their actions mately govern the world and (“Address to Bundestag,” mankind, but a personal God Berlin). governs the stars, that is, the The central question at universe; it is not the laws of issue, then, is this: Where matter and of evolution that is the ethical foundation for have the final say, but reason, political choices to be found? will, love—a Person. And if The Catholic tradition we know this Person and he maintains that the objective knows us, then truly the in- norms governing right ac- exorable power of material tion are accessible to reason, elements no longer has the prescinding from the content last word; we are not slaves of of revelation. According to the universe and of its laws, this understanding, the role we are free. In ancient times, of religion in political de- honest inquiring minds were bate is not so much to supply aware of this. Heaven is not these norms, as if they could empty. Life is not a simple not be known by nonbeliev- product of laws and the ers—still less to propose randomness of matter, but concrete political solutions, within everything and at the which would lie altogether same time above everything, outside the competence of religion— body and soul (Encyclical, “Caritas in there is a personal will, there is a Spirit but rather to help purify and shed light Veritate,” 76). who in Jesus has revealed himself as upon the application of reason to the The way humanity treats the envi- Love (Encyclical, “Spe Salvi,” 5). discovery of objective moral principles. ronment influences the way it treats it- Quotations complied by NATHANIEL PETERS and . . . This is why I would suggest that self, and vice versa. . . . The Church has ROBERT IMBELLI. the world of reason and the world of a responsibility toward creation and she PHOTO CREDIT: Page 14: Pope Benedict XVI greets faith—the world of secular rationality must assert this responsibility in the a child during his weekly general audience in St. and the world of religious belief—need public sphere. In so doing, she must Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 18, one another and should not be afraid defend not only earth, water, and air 2012. © Alessandra Tarantino/ /AP/Corbis to enter into a profound and ongoing as gifts of creation that belong to ev- dialogue, for the good of our civiliza- eryone. She must above all protect tion. Religion, in other words, is not a mankind from self-destruction. There

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have been arguing that the mutual example in helping us see and and Schoenberg, Freud and Klimt, acquisition of virtue has a bearing drawing us to the life of virtue. Mahler and Mach. We can see the Ion how we learn. This is a lesson Third, we must not lose sight of the same thing at other times and plac- all university students should take to essential connectedness of intellect es. Elizabethan London was a city heart. Students at the University of and virtue. When Aristotle says that if the size of Lubbock, Texas, and it Kentucky should find the Newman you want to listen intelligently to lec- produced Shakespeare, Marlowe, Center. Harvard students should meet tures on ethics you “must have been Spenser, Sidney, Jonson, and Bacon. the chaplain at St. Paul’s Church. brought up in good habits,” he does Bach, Handel, and Telemann were all But this is an incomplete argument. not mean simply that you must do a born around 1685 and studied one an- What is the particular contribution before b. (As we might say, if you want others’ work. The world’s best violins a Catholic university makes to the to get from Boston to Washington have all come from Cremona, Italy, integration of virtue and intellect? you must first go through New York.) where they were made by the Amati, Let me close with four brief ob- The cultivation of virtue enables the Guarneri, and Stradivari families. servations about this point. First, al- student to learn what the teacher is The Catholic University of though we sometimes speak of learn- teaching. It is part of the language America is a university—a community ing virtue from a holy man, we learn it they both speak. of scholars united in a common effort better as members of a group. As the To put it in concrete terms, student to find goodness, truth, and beauty. Catechism says, the Christian “learns life, campus ministry, residential life, It is a place where we learn things the example of holiness [from the athletics, and student organizations St. Monica could not teach her son. Church;] he discerns it in the authen- are not offices concerned with differ- Holy as she was, she could not have tic witness of those who live it . . . .”15 ent parts of the day and places on cam- written the Confessions or The City of Both the yogi and the group provide pus than academic affairs. They are God. Smart as he was, neither could the necessary illustration. But it’s like integrally related. As Pope Benedict Augustine have written them with- learning a foreign language. No tutor said at this University in 2008, this “is out the intellectual companionship alive can match the experience of liv- a place to encounter the living God . he found first at Carthage and later ing with a family that speaks Korean. . . . This relationship elicits a desire among the Platonists in Milan. The Groups have this additional ad- to grow in the knowledge and under- intellectual life, like the acquisition of vantage over yogis: Besides offering standing of Christ and his teaching.” virtue, is a communal (not a solitary) round-the-clock instruction, they also Finally, I have been talking about undertaking. We learn from each oth- provide a counterweight to the cul- the role of virtue in the life of the in- er. The intellectual culture we create ture. In raising our children my wife tellect. But I want to conclude by ob- is the product of our collective effort. and I have found that it is hard to fight serving that the intellectual life of a A Catholic intellectual culture will be the culture. We deliver one message Catholic university is something that something both distinctive and won- about materialism, sex, self-sacrifice, is unique among institutions of higher derful if we bring the right people into and alcohol; our children see another education. Whatever your intellec- the conversation and if we work really in school and the media. Our lesson tual field, you are probably familiar hard at it. gains credibility if the children see a with the phenomenon I might call the JOHN GARVEY is the president of the Catholic Uni- community of people they know and coffeehouse effect. Carl Schorske de- versity of America. Prior to his appointment he served admire living it. scribes in his interesting book Fin de as dean of Boston College Law School for 12 years. Second, as Christians we believe Siècle Vienna how intellectuals from Reprinted with permission. that the community we live in here is many different fields gathered in the not just us. It is God with us, in the coffeehouses of Vienna at the turn of To read full text and watch video of John sacraments we celebrate every day. the 20th century and created a spe- Garvey’s inaugural address, visit: http:// His grace is more important than our cial intellectual culture: Kokoschka president.cua.edu/inauguration/index.cfm

hrist is coming down from I also was in the process of joining in northeast England. It was buried the cross!” exclaimed the Catholic Church. When tooling alongside Cuthbert on Lindisfarne. “Can agitated colleague books, it has been my practice to say When the monks fled Lindisfarne as she rushed into the conservation a “Hail Mary” as the hot gilding tools because of coastal Viking raids, they lab in the John J. Burns Library at touch the leather surface. I am not the brought Cuthbert’s coffin with them. Boston College on a sunny spring first person involved in the book arts Later, in 1104, the book now known as day in 2009. I had begun working at who has felt the need for the inter- the St. Cuthbert Gospel was found in Boston College only months earlier so vention of saints—indeed, the saints his coffin in Durham Cathedral. was not immediately aware of exactly themselves have a history of preserv- St. Francis of Assisi (d. 1224) could what this meant in the context of my ing books. well be the patron saint of book con- position as conservator. However, my St. Benedict (d. 480) was clear on servators: He had much to say about quirky sense of humor kicked in and the treatment of monastery property, the care of books. In a letter addressed I responded, “Sounds like a job for including books. In Chapter 32 of his to his order Francis said, “To impress the Virgin Mary.” Upon questioning Rule he wrote, “Whoever fails to keep on ourselves the greatness of our my colleague it became clear that the the things belonging to the monastery Creator and our total subjection to intervention of the Blessed Mother clean or treats them carelessly should Him, we must take utmost care of the would not be necessary; the cross in be reproved.” He further stated that a sacred vessels and the liturgical books this instance was the processional cross monk could not give, receive, or retain which contain His holy words. For this traditionally used for the Baccalaureate anything as his own; citing as an ex- reason I admonish all my friars and Mass prior to Commencement at ample “not a book.” Although ordered encourage them in Christ, that wher- Boston College. The Christ figure had not to own books, the brothers were ever they may find the written words of become loosened, there was concern required to read them during Lent, as God, they give them all possible rever- that it would fall off, and my colleague stipulated in Chapter 48: “Each shall ence; and if such books are not fittingly was certain that I could fix it. So take a codex from the library.” stored or are piled together in some taking out a screwdriver, I tightened St. Ethelwald (d. 687) was a “hands- unseemly place, they should, insofar as the tiny screws that held the figure on” saver of an important text, The it concerns them, gather them up and to the cross. As I worked, I pondered Lindisfarne Gospel. He is credited with arrange them in a becoming manner, the fact that this minor act was giving creating a binding for it after the text and so honor the Lord in the words me the opportunity to meditate on the block was miraculously preserved from which He has spoken.” St. Francis also crucified Christ and to consider how water damage. The text block, appar- brought up the subject in his Letter to my Catholic faith and my daily work ently in an earlier binding, had fallen the Custodes, “The written words of are intertwined. My primary work here overboard during a storm at sea. The the Lord, wherever they may be found is to preserve and conserve the rare Lindisfarne Gospel evidently has a luck- in dusty and dirty places, should be books and archival materials owned ier history than the bindings that have taken and stored in a proper place.” by Boston College; this includes an held it—while the text still survives, Additionally, in a letter to the clergy impressive collection of Jesuit imprints, the binding made by Ethelwald was Francis stated, “His written words are precious books of hours, manuscripts later lost. also sometimes kicked around under- of Catholic authors, and hundreds of St. Cuthbert took a more passive foot”: referring to the 13th-century thousands of other rare items. role in the preservation of a bound practice of storing liturgical books on Rare books and Catholicism are volume of the Gospel of St. John. The the floor near the altar. closely bound together for me; while seventh-century book, the earliest sur- St. Celestine V (d. 1296) is some- a student in Boston’s North Bennet viving intact European book, was pro- times regarded as the patron saint of Street School bookbinding program, duced by monks of Wearmouth-Jarrow bookbinders, although book conserva-

16 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 “ ‘ ’”

tors or preservation librarians might later became pope, choosing the name for an important Catholic collection more closely relate to him. Born Pietro Celestine V; however, he resigned after and feel proud that, at least in terms Angelerio, he became a Benedictine only a few months in ofﬁce. of book preservation, I am in the com- monk at age 17. This pious young man These saints were involved in as- pany of saints! favored a more isolated and rigorous pects of preservation long before BARBARA ADAMS HEBARD is the conservator at life than usual for that order and lived book conservation was established Boston College’s John J. Burns Library. a solitary life in a cave. It was said that, as a career. As I work in the John J. PHOTO CREDIT: Page 17: Books from John J. Burns to keep ever occupied and fend off the Burns Library, located in the lovely Library, Special Collections. Photo courtesy of Ofﬁce temptations of the devil, Pietro cop- collegiate-gothic style Bapst building, of Marketing Communications, Caitlin Cunningham. ied books: an act of preservation. He I ponder the responsibility of caring

The Heart of the Catholic Meeting Jesus in Your Life Mysticism and the Intellectual Life Intellectual Tradition February 28, 2013 | C21 Lecture April 10, 2013 | Lecture February 7, 2013 | Lecture On the Road Presenter: Lawrence Cunningham, Presenter: Fr. Robert Imbelli, professor, Presenter: Fr. James Martin, S.J. professor, Department of Theology, Theology Department Location/Time: St. Ignatius Loyola Parish, University of Notre Dame Respondents: Professors Marina McCoy 400 Park Ave. at 84th Street, New York City, Location/Time: Corcoran Commons, (Philosophy) and Khaled Anastolios 5:30 p.m. For more information: bc.edu/21 Heights Room, 5:30 p.m. (Theology) Sponsors: C21 Center and BC Alumni Sponsor: C21 Center Location/Time: Gasson Hall, Association Room 100, 5:30 p.m. The Many Faces of Hildegard of Bingen: Sponsors: C21 Center and Theology The Challenge of Catholic Teaching on War New Doctor of the Church Department and Peace in the Present Moment April 11, 2013 | Lecture March 18, 2013 | Episcopal Visitor Lecture Presenter: Catherine Mooney, The Future of Catholic Periodicals: Presenter: Bishop Robert McElroy, Vicar for professor, STM Finances, Faith, and the Digital Age Parish Life and Development, Archdiocese Location/Time: STM (9 Lake Street), February 20, 2013 | Panel Discussion of San Francisco Room TBA, 5:30 p.m. Editors Panel: Matt Malone, S.J. (America); Location/Time: Corcoran Commons, Sponsors: STM and C21 Center Paul Baumann (Commonweal) and Heights Room, 4:30 p.m. Meinrad Sherer-Emunds (U.S. Catholic) Sponsors: C21 Center and STM Prophetic Voices: Women in the Tradition Location/Time: Gasson Hall, Room 100, April 16, 2013 | Panel Discussion 5:30 p.m. Encountering Jesus in the Scriptures Moderator: Patricia Deleeuw Sponsors: C21 Center and Boisi Center for March 20, 2013 | Book Launch Religion and American Public Life Location/Time: Corcoran Commons, Presenters: Fr. Daniel Harrington, S.J. & Heights Room, 5:30 p.m. Christopher R. Matthews, professors, STM Sponsors: C21 Center and the Women’s New Voices in Catholic Theology Location/Time: Theology and Ministry Resource Center February 27, 2013 | Book Launch Library, 5:30 p.m. Presenters: Anna Bonta Moreland, Sponsors: C21 Center and STM God and the Imagination: Praying professor, Department of the Humanities, Through Poetry Villanova University and Joseph Curran, Accompaniment: Liberation Theology, professor of Religious Studies, April 25, 2013 | Seminar Solidarity and a Life of Service Misericordia College Presenter: Paul Mariani, professor, April 3, 2013 | Conversation Location/Time: Corcoran Commons, English Department Heights Room, 5:30 p.m. Presenters: Paul Farmer, Kolokotrones Location/Time: Corcoran Commons, University Professor, Harvard Medical Sponsors: C21 Center and Theology Heights Room, 4:00-6:00 p.m. School and Roberto Goizueta, professor, Department Sponsors: C21 Center, STM and English Theology Department. Department Location/Time: Robsham Theatre, 6:30 p.m. Sponsors: C21 Center, STM, Theology Webcast videos will be available Department & Center for Human Rights abbreviations within two weeks following each and International Justice STM: BC School of Theology and Ministry event on bc.edu/c21 C21 Center: The Church in the 21st Century Center

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Naturalization Ceremony Academic Symposium IV March 21, 2013 Educating Democratic Citizens April 2, 2013 Academic Symposium III Migration: Past, Present and Future Founders Day Celebration March 21-22, 2013 April 9, 2013

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have the deep privilege to teach humanizing, and interpersonal.1 The bly reach out into questions about our at a university at whose center Catholic tradition insists upon the origin and destiny. Ilies the Catholic intellectual intimate relation between all aspects This does not turn a university tradition. This past May at the of human culture and Christian faith. into a Sunday school. Our students graduates’ reception, I was able to The roots of the term “catholic,” of are absolutely free to make their own meet the parents, relatives, and friends course, speak to its universal, compre- religious choices. But Catholic univer- of students whom I had had in class hensive, and holistic scope. sity educators believe that truths un- several semesters, a cluster of whom I Each discipline should be inte- covered in the fine arts, the social and had taught since freshman year. While grated into the Christian vision. This natural sciences, the humanities and the students had chosen to move might sound like a myth to some to- the professions are related organically onto different jobs, graduate schools, day, a quaint story, but to those of us to one another as different parts of the or internships, they did so through a who teach at Catholic universities, human body. So engineering, nursing, genuine encounter with the best of knowledge is not parceled out into and business students are required to the Catholic intellectual tradition. As separate packages, in isolated com- take several courses in the liberal arts I talked with Paul’s aunt, or Okitchie’s partments, one having nothing to do because they will be better engineers, parents, or Tyler’s grandfather, I was with the other. Knowledge is whole. more equipped nurses, or smarter confident that their children had Each discipline is organically related businesswomen as a result of their uni- been forever marked by a Villanova to the others, with the liberal arts at versity education. education. What constitutes this mark, the heart of university life. That is Most fundamentally, though, this encounter with the tradition? why the liberal arts were called “sister they will become better human beings. To its very roots in the 12th-centu- disciplines.’Theology and philosophy Students are taught to develop a sensi- ry, the Catholic university is marked are at the center of this endeavor, for bility to truth, to beauty, to goodness. by the pursuit of knowledge as organic, questions about human people inevita- The flip side of this, of course, is that students are to become sensitized to great human misery, to places where human flourishing is stunted or ob- structed. An overwhelming number of students at Catholic universities work with the poor during the semester, in break trips throughout the United States and abroad, and after graduation. I teach in an interdisciplinary department that does on the microlevel what the Catholic university does on the macrolevel: We investigate the human person through several disciplines, with theology and philosophy serving as the grounding disciplines. Our students learn about the emer- gence of modern science and modern atheism and contemporary political discourse in relationship to one another. They trace these developments back to conversations happening in ancient Athens and Israel, to translation projects happening in medieval Europe

20 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 and Arabia. In the midst of standing on students to get to know one another by theirs at Villanova. I remember the shoulders of giants, they are able to and me from the very first day of class, Fr. Michael Himes telling me that recognize the blindness and prejudice convinced that honest intellectual in- teaching consists mostly in giving of our contemporary age. quiry emerges in a climate of trust and away what one has received. I have Each of our students emerges from friendship. At the heart of Catholic now come to experience this in my the humanities major at Villanova bet- university life lies intellectual friend- own university teaching. But in passing ter equipped to ask herself what kind ship. For ideas ultimately come to life on this organic, humanizing, and of person she wants to become, how in human beings. We should not be interpersonal education, I continue she wants her professional life to take surprised by this, given that the orga- to be marked by my students, by shape in a deeply thoughtful and so- nizing principle at a Catholic univer- my deepening understanding of the phisticated way. They graduate and sity is the person of Christ.3 intellectual tradition, and by the continue onto graduate and profes- Placing the human person at the collegial friendships I have formed sional schools, or they enter the world center of a university education is among the faculty. So everyone of business or music with a rich vocab- not, of course, simply a Catholic or involved in this university endeavor — ulary of living that will sustain them in Christian concern. It is a genuine- not just the students—becomes more the years to come. ly human concern. In the words of deeply human as a result of his or When we refer to the word “univer- Francis Oakley, former president of her encounter with the Catholic sities,” we simply mean institutions of Williams College: intellectual tradition. advanced learning. But when mediev- No education which truly aspires ANNA BONTA MORELAND is an assistant professor als first spoke of them, they were re- to be a preparation for living can in the Department of Humanities at Villanova ferring not so much to the institutions afford to ignore the…fundamen- University. She is also co-editor of the newly as to people. They were referring not tal and wide-ranging attempt to released, , part of to the great schools where the profes- penetrate by our reason the very the C21 Book Series. sional disciplines were taught, but to structures of the natural world, PHOTO CREDIT: Page 20: by George de La Tour. © Francis G. Mayer/CORBIS the guilds of masters and students. Not to evoke the dimensions and until the 15th century, in fact, did it significance of the beautiful, to 1These roots are explicitly developed in: Michael J. become common for the term “univer- reach towards an understanding Buckley, S.J., sity” to be used for the school, or place of what it is to be human, of one’s (Washington, 2 D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1998). of study instead of a group of people. position in the universe, and of 2Francis Oakley, This is an interesting development. one’s relations with one’s fellows, The origin of the word “univer- moral no less than material. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), p.17. sity” is telling, for it recognized that Towards that attempt we seem 3Cf. Michael J. Buckley, S.J., “Newman and the at the center of intellectual inquiry impelled by the very fiber of our Restoration of the Interpersonal in Higher Education,” lies a relationship—that of student to being. In its total absence, while , Santa Clara University, teacher. Becoming well-educated is November 14, 2006. doubtless we survive, we do so like developing a taste for fine wine 4Oakley, , p.171. as something surely less than or learning the art of plumbing. It has human.4 to be taught. I was taught to ride a Find out more about the C21 Book Series and bike, to play basketball, to sew a but- I was marked by my experience as new releases in 2013: bc.edu/c21books ton by people who knew these things. a graduate student at Boston College In the seminars I teach, I encourage much as my students are marked

CATHOLIC INTELLECTUAL TRADITION FEBRUARY 67 – MARCH 8, 679:

pending time with Augustine’s behaviors impact one’s self and others. describes a state in which the good is Confessions, Dante’s Divine Com- This is a sentiment that continues to not present, then sin exists not because Sedy, and Teilhard de Chardin’s prevail in society today. How often do of an outside influence on man’s behav- The Divine Milieu in my studies at Bos- we hear “’so and so’ a person or ‘such ior, but because of a person’s free choice ton College, I have come to appreci- and such’ a thing made me do it,” “I against the good, namely against what ate how deeply they have impacted my had no choice,” or “It really wasn’t my leads one to God. relationship with God and my interac- fault”? Augustine’s Confessions demon- Without pretending to do full justice tions with others. strated to me the fallacy of such a no- to Augustine’s profound reflection, I can In Augustine’s Confessions, the saint tion and, consequently, solidified my testify that his intellectual and moral struggles with his understanding of belief in the existence of free will. struggle has strengthened my personal good and evil as well as the existence In his contemplation of the nature confidence in the truth of free will’s of free will. Although I did not real- of the divine, Augustine concluded that existence. Furthermore, it has height- ize it until journeying with Augustine God is complete goodness and also in- ened my awareness of sin’s mind-set. If through his lifelong conversion, free corruptible, for nothing can lessen the I find myself blaming my circumstances will is a concept I had never fully con- goodness of God. He reasoned further or peers for certain negative behaviors, sidered. As a former Manichean, he that if creation has the capacity to be- I immediately think of Augustine’s in- held beliefs concerning separate meta- come corrupted, that is, capable of be- sights and realize it is my free choice to physical forces, one good and one evil, coming less good, then it must be es- do that which is good or that which is each of which acted upon humankind, sentially good in the first place. Having evil. While some may feel greatly bur- dictating a person’s actions. Therefore, realized the inherent goodness of cre- dened by such a belief since it forces Augustine attributed the sin of man to ation, the saint determined that the man to take responsibility for his ac- an exterior force of evil. Such a mind- nature of evil is nothing other than the tions, I have found it to be incredibly set rejects any sense of accountability absence of goodness, thus disproving empowering and liberating. Nothing and enables man to lead a life free of his belief in an evil metaphysical force. but my own weakness can truly stand guilt or shame regardless of how one’s If evil cannot exist of itself, but rather between me and the attainment of

22 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 goodness and holiness. And with God’s humankind to participate in God’s and unite ourselves in love with our grace, even this can be overcome. How ongoing act of creation. Teilhard dis- Creator. Through our work, we pour beautiful that our all-powerful creator cusses what he calls the “sanctification out ourselves for others, imitating does not force goodness upon us, but of activity,” addressing a common mis- Christ’s ultimate act of self-gift on the rather gives us the ability to choose to conception among Christians today. cross. Teilhard eradicated my false no- enter into relationship with Him, who Many, he discerns, feel a tension be- tion that through a deep participation is goodness itself! tween their love of the world, of life, of in the activity of the world I am fail- Dante, in his Divine Comedy, dem- knowing and creating, with their desire ing to give God my love and attention onstrates the detrimental consequenc- completely. Rather, he offered to me an es that sin brings about, for if man re- understanding of free will as a means jects responsibility for his own actions, “…the greatest of participating in God’s construction there is no hope for improvement or of his heavenly kingdom here on earth attainment of the good. By vividly il- friendship is that in and inspired me to seek to encounter lustrating the denial of free will and God in all my earthly activities. personal responsibility asserted by ev- which each member In short, my encounters with these ery sinner of the Inferno, Dante shows classic works of the Catholic intellectu- how it is the sinner’s own decision that strives to lead one al tradition have strengthened my faith condemns himself or herself to a life another to the Truth in free will, one of the Church’s fun- of perpetual separation from the good damental principles, have heightened and, therefore, from God. and thus to goodness my awareness of God’s presence in my In contrast, according to Dante, all daily life, and have invigorated my de- a soul must do in order to enter the and joy in spite of the sire to seek truth and to show love to realm of purgatory, which ultimately all whom I encounter. I am grateful to grants souls access to heaven, is admit suffering that may these theologians for sharing their own his guilt in sinning. By accepting re- struggles and journeys with me so that sponsibility, these souls acknowledge occur along the way.” I may benefit from their experience their ability to change and orient their and grow deeper in relationship with desires to God. Although the process our bountiful Creator. of purification and of aligning one’s to love God above all else. Oftentimes KATHERINE MARTIN is a Presidential Scholar of the passions to the will of the divine in- this sense of conflicting loves results Class of 2015 at Boston College. volves suffering, Dante portrays how in feelings of guilt and the belief that PHOTO CREDIT: Page 22: Outdoor classroom on BC such a process leads one to genuine one must withdraw from society in or- Campus. Photo courtesy of Office of Marketing Christian joy and a deeper relationship der to give God the devotion he is due. Communications, Caitlin Cunningham. with our Creator. Teilhard asserts, however, that if we

Dante’s insight into the power of have aligned our desires with God’s, Watch the new video series, “Exploring simply acknowledging the truth, in we can freely choose how to contrib- the Catholic Intellectual Tradition”: a manner similar to Augustine, has ute to God’s ongoing act of creation bc.edu/c21tradition caused me to examine my attitude toward my own sins and to strive for personal conversion. It also has opened my eyes to the importance of Lord, on the walls of my university stand the words: seeking to convey the truth in my re- “The truth shall make you free.” lationships, even when it may strain a May we never forget that it was you who said this, friendship. If God is truth, as asserted O hidden Lord of all truth. by Augustine and demonstrated by Only when I ﬁnd you in my quest for truth will I be free. Dante, then the greatest friendship is that in which each member strives to Free from the narrowness of any one ﬁeld of study, lead one another to the Truth and thus free from the desire of success, to goodness and joy in spite of the suf- free from the greed of my own heart. fering that may occur along the way. Only your heart can teach me to love my study and knowledge, Finally, through reading the Jesuit to put my best into it for your sake, scientist and spiritual writer Teilhard de Chardin, I have gained greater un- to consecrate my heart in service to you alone in the depths of my love. derstanding of the goodness of human – Karl Rahner, S.J. enterprise and how free will enables

n the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, ages, and its ultimate foundation on as many of Raphael’s contemporaries, in a room called the Stanza della the Incarnate and Eucharistic Christ. such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da ISegnatura, the Renaissance master The two most famous are the frescoes Vinci, as well as his own self-portrait. Raphael Sanzio (1483–1520) paint- of philosophy and theology, better At the center stand the two philoso- ed four frescoes depicting the main known as The School of Athens and the phers who embody the finest genius of branches of knowledge: philosophy Adoration of the Holy Sacrament. They classical thought—Plato, with his hand with its desire for knowledge of causes; face each other across the room, show- pointing toward the celestial spheres, poetry and music with their beauty ing, in captivating and imaginative and Aristotle, with his hand indicating that reﬂects divine inspiration; theol- fashion, the union of faith and reason the sweep of earthly realities. The School ogy with its contemplation of divine in the quest for truth. of Athens seems to echo the words of revelation; and law with its goal of The School of Athens depicts think- the Roman playwright Terence: “I am enacting justice. Together, these fres- ers throughout history, all engaged human, and I consider nothing human coes capture the Catholic intellectual in thought, dispute, and teaching. foreign to me.” tradition’s commitment both to faith Though no “key” to the figures is giv- On the opposite wall, the Adoration and to reason, its breadth in learn- en, scholars have identified some of the of the Holy Sacrament confesses that the ing from thinkers and ideas across the great philosophers of antiquity as well full truth of what it means to be hu-

24 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 man is made manifest in Jesus Christ. Mystery—truth ultimately to be found Moreover, the Incarnate Christ reveals in the person of Christ. Raphael af- Raphael was one of the supreme artistic geniuses of history. Aside from the Trinitarian nature of God. Thus, firms, through striking artistic forms, his great frescos, his portraits and Christ is shown between the Father that this ongoing quest fascinates and drawings are renowned. He was also and the Holy Spirit. The fresco also transforms those who undertake it. His an accomplished architect, appointed in depicts figures from throughout the paintings have nourished and inspired the last years of his life chief architect Church’s history: Saints Augustine, the Catholic imagination through the for St. Peter’s Basilica still in the early stages of construction. Thomas Aquinas, and Bonaventure, ages. They continue to do so today. Raphael’s early death, at age 37, Dante Alighieri, and even Savonarola. Text by NATHANIEL PETERS and ROBERT IMBELLI. deprived humanity of countless further Far more than a “disputation” about masterpieces. He was buried in the PHOTO CREDITS: Page 24: . Ca. (1510- the Eucharist (the name given the ancient Roman ediﬁce, the Pantheon, 1512.) Fresco. Stanza della Segnatura, Stanze di which had been converted into a fresco by the art historian Giorgio Raffaello, Vatican Palace. Scala / Art Resource, NY. church. The Latin epithet on his tomb Vasari), the painting celebrates the | Page 25: The Disputa of the Sacrament. Fresco, was composed by the Renaissance 1509-1510. Stanza della Segnatura, Stanze di union of the Church on earth with the humanist and cardinal Pietro Bembo: Church in heaven in common praise Raffaello, Vatican Palace. Scala / Art Resource, NY “Ille hic est Raphael timuit quo and thanksgiving. sospite vinci rerum magna parens Together, The School of Athens and Learn more about the C21 Center’s “Handing et moriente mori.” on the Faith” series: bc.edu/c21faith the Adoration of the Holy Sacrament “Here lies that (famous) Raphael. While symbolize the Catholic intellectual he lived, mother nature feared to be tradition’s search for the truth about surpassed; now dead, she fears she her- both human reality and heavenly self will die.”

et’s begin with lines Gerard Manley Hopkins and speckled grays of the bird’s feathers suddenly seemed wrote some 135 years ago, though the words are to catch fire. Las fresh today as they were when he wrote them. A scientist looking at a kingfisher might see it as a small News that stays news was how Ezra Pound defined the to medium-sized brightly colored bird of the order of special quality of successful poetry. To which a poet like Coraciiform, divided among river, tree, and water kingfish- Fr. Hopkins, working within the powerful tradition of the ers, all with large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short Catholic/Christian imagination, would add, Good News legs, and stubby tails. that remains always Good News. But Hopkins wants to catch something more. Not an A Jesuit scholastic winding up his classes in theology— Audubon specimen to be stretched out on a drawing board Dominican Thomism, laced with his brilliant insights into and studied, but a living creature, caught by the eye and not the heart of Franciscan Scotism, Hopkins was just months the net as something to be admired for the distinctive thing away from ordination when he wrote the untitled sonnet it is, its brilliant colors bursting into flame. known by its first line: “As kingfishers catch fire, dragon- So too with the smaller dragonfly, its wings beating in- flies draw flame.” What he caught in this poem was noth- credibly fast as it darts among the lily pads of a pond, say, ing less than the very doing-be, the essential inscape of the on a summer morning, its brilliant colors rainbowing there thing, the brilliant ignition of Creation caught in daylight, before us to witness to. But because Hopkins was an artist sunlight, God’s light as it were, enacting the splendor of na- who loved to sketch, trying to capture the active inscape of ture’s myriad selves, unself-consciously, there to be caught the thing his eye caught there, the doing-be of the thing, he or not by the human observer as something to be admired, puns here, seeing the dragonfly as if it were drawing with wondered at, and its Creator praised. Two Oh! moments flames across the canvas of the summer air. of recognition in one line, connected by the recurrent ks Kingfishers and dragonflies, caught perhaps one sum- and fs and ds of the words flashing together. A kingfisher mer afternoon when Hopkins had gone down to the Clwyd diving from a branch and hitting the water of a stream, say, in the Welsh vales near St. Beuno’s, where he pondered his as the sun hit it slant, so that the iridescent blues and reds Thomism.

26 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 Which got him to thinking not only about what we see, Evangelists or Augustine or Dante or Dame Julianna of but about what we hear, like the distinctive plunk of a rock Norwich or John of the Cross or Shakespeare or Cervantes as it falls into a stone well along which it has rested for or Donne or Herbert or Hopkins or Eliot or Péguy or who knows how long. But alive now, alive with motion, as Claudel or Merton or Levertov. Or—more broadly—what it strikes the water like and unlike the kingfisher. Or the it looks for in whatever and whoever it meets, seeking for pizzicato plunk of a stringed instrument—violin, viola da what it finds there that can offer substance, filtering it as gamba, mandolin, guitar, piano, harpsichord, or fiddle— needed, like water from different sources, whether the one the taut wires suddenly come alive with the instant strike of heeded be Herodotus or Plato or Aristotle or Propertius or hammer or finger or bow. Pater or Rabelais or Baudelaire or Rimbaud. Which is like and distinctively unlike the way bells in It’s all there, all those treasures for the taking: in the belfries and campaniles will ring out in every small shire stained, glass windows of our churches and cathedrals, in and university town and great city like London, each the stones shaped and fitted patiently, lifting higher and shaped to ring out its distinctive sound, alone or as part of a higher no matter the cost in time and effort, in plainchant, larger harmony. Each thing, then, doing what it was made in Bach and Mozart and the Congolese Missa Luba, in to do, whether made by mortals, or—better—by the great the earliest images of the Good Shepherd, based as much God Creator. on the myth of Hermes as on the Hebrew Psalms, but But Hopkins’s Catholic imagination is far from finished reconfigured now in a new imagination, solidly rooted in with this meditation. If everything—from stones to king- the things of this world—earth, rock, fire, water, sky—but fishers—“Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,/ lifted by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who Crying What I do is me: for that I came,” then what about bodes and abides behind it all, through and with and in each of us? What I do is me, we are reminded. And for most Him, as one sings at the culmination of the Eucharistic of us the words that immediately follow will resonate: for Prayer, and the world once more shivers to wakefulness to that I came. embrace the Mystery. There are at least 15 places in the New Testament where PAUL MARIANI holds the University Professor of English Chair at Boston those words are spoken, by Jesus or describing Jesus. Most College. He has published , as well as seven dramatically, perhaps, is the moment when Jesus, scourged collections of his own poems. and beaten before being brought back before the Roman PHOTO CREDITS: Page 26: Kingfisher dives to catch fish. Joe Petersburger/National procurator, Pontius Pilate, tells Pilate point blank that he Geographic Stock. has come into the world “that I should bear witness to the truth.” Or, as he told the crowds to whom he spoke: “I have Watch Paul Mariani discuss how poetry has influenced his believing heart come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me and mind, and how writing has affected his faith: bc.edu/c21tradition. should not abide in darkness.” The light shining on us, the Light gracing us, is what the sacral imagination sees in the quotidian round of things, so that we kiss our hand to the Creator when it dawns on us who and what the Creator is and who we his creatures are. And what are we, then, if not images of Christ as the Father sees us, each of us being Christ in the world, in ten thousand or a hundred thousand or a billion billion places, who play As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; now (act, enact, imitate, and romp about) in the profound As tumbled over rim in roundy wells mystery of sons and daughters before the Creator, “Lovely Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his/ To the Father through Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; the features of men’s faces.” Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: How many Christian artists and musicians and singers Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; over the past two millennia have taken up musical instru- Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells, ment or paintbrush or chisel or pen or pieces of bright mo- Crying What I do is me: for that I came. saic, as, say, in the Church of San Clemente in Rome, just yards from the Coliseum, with its extraordinary mosaic of Í say more: the just man justices; the Tree of Life, where the cross itself—that image of suf- Keeps gráce: that keeps all his goings graces; fering transubstantiated into victory and joy—is rooted in Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is— the very earth from which we all sprang, and which flow- Chríst—for Christ plays in ten thousand places, ers now, embracing all of God’s creation in its mothering Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his branches: bird, beast, and humankind. To the Father through the features of men’s faces. It is what the Catholic imagination adds to the read- – Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. ing of Creation, then, whether in the ancient Psalms or the

“One of the consummate joys for me as a choral/ orchestral conductor is the ‘bringing together’ of many voices and instruments into a uniﬁed whole.”

he Catholic intellectual tradition is embodied not thing which no individual could produce alone. No single only in works of theology and philosophy, but in voice or instrument could create the glorious sound of a Tpoetry, painting, and music. The Latin Mass is full ensemble. at the heart of the Western musical tradition, providing a In the course of my work I have been fortunate to con- canonical text that opens into myriad expressions, which duct many settings of the Mass, composed by some of the sound the depths of Christian faith and hope, of human finest composers who ever lived. Time and again I have longing and rejoicing. been struck by the sheer variety of musical expression in The settings of the Mass by the great composers are one these diverse works, unified as they are by a common text. of the treasures of the Catholic tradition. They continue I often experience flashes of deepened understanding when to be sung in cathedrals and large churches and often ap- I discover the way a particular composer has chosen to set pear on programs in concert halls throughout the world. a particular text. Though requiring skilled performers, they offer not only Sometimes, a composer’s setting depicts quite literally aesthetic delight, but deep spiritual insight. And, of course, the emotion inherent in the text. Consider a few dramatic they are readily available in splendid recordings. moments from the Credo of J. S. Bach’s Mass in B minor: at One of the consummate joys for me as a choral/orches- the end of the Crucifixus, at the words “et sepultus est” (“and tral conductor is the “bringing together” of many voices was buried”), the chorus intones the text in a low range, and instruments into a unified whole. United in singing or with sparse orchestral accompaniment. The final chord is playing, the members of an ensemble can produce some- followed immediately by a joyous outburst from both cho-

28 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 rus and orchestra at the words “et resurrexit” (“and he rose nally resolving into a brighter, more optimistic mode for again”); full orchestra including trumpets and timpani, bril- the final “Osanna in excelsis” (“Hosanna in the highest”). liant high-range music for the chorus, and a brisk tempo all A composer’s insight into a phrase of text can sometimes combine to depict the glory of Christ’s resurrection. produce music that seems at odds with that text. Antonio At times it seems that a composer can offer profound Vivaldi’s masterful setting of the Gloria offers an excellent insight into a phrase of text or even a single word. One of example. (Not part of a full setting of the Mass, this work by the greatest aspects of choral music is that the composer Vivaldi is a stand-alone, 12-movement setting of the text of can allow a text to be simultaneously declaimed and “in- the Gloria.) The text “Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater terpreted.” Even the most skilled orator can only impart omnipotens” (“Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father a certain amount of inflection and nuance when speaking almighty”) would seem to require music of a royal char- a given text. The same text, set to music by a master com- acter, yet Vivaldi sets this text to music of an unmistakably poser, can be “clothed” in expressive harmonies and instru- “pastorale” character, the kind of music always associated mental accompaniment that can enhance and elaborate on with shepherds (complete with a “shepherd’s-pipe” melody the meaning of the text. played by the oboe). Vivaldi subtly reminds us through his For example, the opening words of the Mass, “Kyrie elei- music that our Lord who is the “Heavenly King” is the son” (“Lord, have mercy”) can elicit music of serene prayer- same Lord who is a gentle and loving Shepherd. fulness, as in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Mass in C major or Though I am already acquainted with many beautiful Franz Schubert’s youthful Mass in G major. In his Coronation Mass settings, I eagerly look forward to the insights and in- Mass, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart indicates that the first spirations to be found in Masses that I have yet to discover. three iterations of the word “Kyrie” should be sung forte- It has been a great joy to me to gain new and deeper under- piano, that is, loudly at the beginning of the word and then standing of the texts of the Mass through the musical set- immediately softer, as if the worshipers are at first adamant tings of masterful composers, and for this I am profoundly in their plea for mercy, then immediately contrite. “Kyrie grateful. eleison” (“Lord, have mercy”) can also be an impassioned JOHN FINNEY is the in the music cry from souls filled with anxiety, as we hear in the striking department at Boston College and director of the University Chorale of Boston opening of Franz Joseph Haydn’s Nelsonmesse (“Lord Nelson” College and the Boston College Symphony Orchestra. He is also associate Mass), with its arresting unison outcries, soul-searing dis- director and chorusmaster Boston’s the famed Handel and Haydn Society. sonances, and soaring, plaintive soprano solos. PHOTO CREDIT: Page 28: John Finney and Orchestra at Trinity Chapel. Photo The word “Sanctus” (“Holy”) can be set in a way to courtesy of Office of Marketing Communications, Caitlin Cunningham. evoke a sense of triumphant majesty, as in J. S. Bach’s Mass in B minor, with its full-throated choral exclamations in- terspersed with flowing triplets in three-part harmony, swirling around the main notes like intricate filigree on a baroque statue. The word “Sanctus” (“Holy”) can also call LISTENING RECOMMENDATIONS forth feelings of deep reverence and awe, as in the hushed (musical works referred to in this essay) tones and simple harmonies of the Sanctus in Haydn’s Nelsonmesse. j. s. bach: “mass in b minor,” bwv 232: The text “Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini” (“Blessed crucifixus; et resurrexit; sanctus is he who comes in the name of the Lord”) often receives antonio vivaldi: “gloria in d major,” rv 589: extraordinary treatment from composers. Beethoven pre- domine deus, rex coelestis cedes the Benedictus in his Missa Solemnis with an exquisite franz joseph haydn: “mass in d minor,” hob orchestral prelude; the ethereal and unexpected sonority of xxii:11 (nelsonmesse): a solo violin and two flutes creates an atmosphere of serene kyrie; sanctus; benedictus “blessedness” long before the chorus enters to declaim the text. Two of Haydn’s Masses offer markedly contrasting set- franz joseph haydn: “mass in b-flat major,” hob. tings of the Benedictus. Haydn’s Harmoniemesse (“Wind-band xxii:14 (harmoniemesse): benedictus Mass”) has a Benedictus that is infused with an effervescent wolfgang amadeus mozart: “mass in c major,” joyousness that is almost giddy. In contrast, the Benedictus in k. 317 (“coronation mass”): kyrie Haydn’s Nelsonmesse is clouded by the same anxiety-ridden ludwig van beethoven: “mass in c major,” character as the Kyrie of that same Mass. The text is sung op. 86: kyrie first by a solo voice, which begins tentatively, almost fear- fully, and is answered by thunderous outbursts from the full ludwig van beethoven: “mass in d major,” op. 123 chorus. The sense of anxiety that pervades this movement (missa solemnis): benedictus reaches a high point in a powerful climax, undergirded by franz schubert: “mass in g major,” d. 167: kyrie war-like fanfares from the trumpets and timpani, before fi-

atholics in the United States welcomed the 1848 most of the Southwest was part of Mexico, a preemi- third millennium of the Christian era searching. nently Catholic nation. CNothing unusual; this is what in many ways defines Stride through today’s highly urbanized neighborhoods Catholicism. Searching for the meaning of our lived faith in Los Angeles or New York or Chicago. Tour a Latino here and now… for a sense of communal unity in the midst barrio. Murals with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe of diversity… for the ideas and expressions that sustain our and other religious symbols immediately capture the atten- intellectual endeavors as American Catholics. Where to tion. How can one ignore the cars decorated with religious begin? We could choose various starting points. However, imagery? Mass and other religious services are celebrated whether we turn to the relics of our past or the changing en español. If the time of the year coincides with Holy Week, reality of our present, it is very likely that the answer to the streets may be busy with hundreds of Spanish-speaking those questions will eventually place us face to face with the people caminando con Jesús (walking with Jesus) as part of a richness of the U.S. Latino Catholic experience. live, public reenactment of the Passion of the Lord. Stop at a place displaying the work of a Latino(a) artist. The explo- Our Places sion of colors, the creative rendering of everyday moments, There are places of unique enchanting beauty. Their and the not uncommon religious piece brazenly reflect the allure, without haste or force, seizes our imagination. “sacramental imagination” at the heart of the U.S. Latino When visiting them, they transport us into a different time cultural imagination. It is a world imbued by the spirit of of history without abandoning the present. When listening Catholicism. To be more exact, Latino Catholicism. About attentively, we hear a harmony of voices that whisper in 70 percent of all U.S. Latinos are Catholic; over 40 percent languages that we don’t always know but mysteriously of all Catholics in the United States are Latino. understand. These places, documents, buildings, expressions, rituals, It is difficult to say whether we are drawn to their beau- and practices are testimonies of the five-century-old inter- ty in religious ways or there is just something religious in play between Catholicism and the various Latino cultural them that speaks to us as women and men of faith —per- traditions that have evolved in the United States and in haps both. Take a short walk through the historic district Latin America. Many of them have been part of the U.S. of, say, St. Augustine in Florida. Contemplate the Spanish Catholic experience from the beginning. Some were incor- colonial architecture, the names of the roads, the location porated when major political decisions reshaped the coun- of its cathedral in the main plaza, and the beautiful Mission try’s geography. Others have crossed borders or descended Nombre de Dios, among other treasures in “America’s Oldest onto our shores to find a home in the Church in the United City.” Words are not enough to describe what they evoke. States. These realities may be somewhat unknown to many Yet, such treasures cry out with one voice: Catholicism! To non-Latino Catholics and perhaps overlooked from time be more exact, Hispanic Catholicism. The first Catholic to time in history books and analyses of the American parish in the territory of what today is the United States of Catholic experience. However, they are there, presente!, as America was established by Spanish-speaking immigrants unwavering witnesses. And so are the people who brought in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565. them to life and sustain them to this day. Travel through the vast lands of the country’s southwest. Many of the missions built by friars still stand as a reminder Our Voices of the first efforts to plant Catholicism in the new conti- Every building presupposes an architect, every song a nent. The documents and artifacts preserved in cultural composer. A ritual makes sense only when we learn about centers in New Mexico, Texas, California, and Arizona con- the community that celebrates it. In the same manner, the firm that no history of this region can be convincingly told treasures of Latino Catholicism point to the multiple ex- without reference to their Catholic heritage. The names periences of women and men living their faith in the midst of cities like Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Santa Fe, and of particular circumstances. Far from being a homogenous many more, are permanent imprints of the presence of group, U.S. Latino Catholics are defined by our diversity. Catholicism. To be more exact, Latino Catholicism. Until Our cultural roots stretch all the way to Mexico, Central

30 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 America, South America, North America, the Caribbean, mestizaje; black/white: mulatez) and it continues until our Africa, and Spain. Our stories, our ways of being, and the own days, a mixing that is not only racial, but also cultural, many expressions with which we celebrate our relation- ethnic, and spiritual. In such dialogue, faith and culture in- ship with the God of Life in lo cotidiano (the everyday) form one another confirming that where God is embraced, breathe Catholicism. a new creation begins. Our entry into the conversation about the Catholic in- The intellectual interpretation of the Catholic experi- tellectual tradition is thus twofold. We bring who we are ence must begin with the people who embody it. And peo- and what we do. Latinos participate in this conversation as ple are always historically rooted in particular social, politi- flesh-and-blood people, women and men with real names cal, and cultural contexts. Once we know who they are and and real stories, people who hope and struggle in the ev- have listened to their voices we can better understand their eryday. We know that we are not alone in a Church that expressions and their practices. It would be naive, actually each day grows in awareness about its diversity. Because of meaningless and irrelevant, to conceive a “disembodied” this, our hopes and our struggles are those of our fellow Catholic intellectual tradition. Catholics —and theirs are ours. It might be that our fami- There are the voices of Latino Catholic giants whose lies have lived in this land for generations; some of us have intellectual contributions have opened new windows into come as immigrants or exiles searching for a better life. Yet the understanding of faith and culture. For instance, in the we all coincide in this same land. We share the same places midst of the colonial enterprise in the 16th century in New where Catholicism is celebrated. Our works and actions Spain (today Mexico), the Franciscan Friar Bernardino de could not be what they are apart from our culture(s) and Sahagún masterfully documented the lives of indigenous our faith. Without our culture(s) and our faith they cannot groups producing what for many is one of the best eth- be fully understood. Those places, documents, buildings, nographic works in the history of the continent. He has expressions, rituals, and practices that give testimony of our been called “the first anthropologist.” In the 17th century, presence are evidence of an ongoing dialogue we call mes- the depth of insight characteristic of Sor Juana Inés de la tizaje and mulatez. Both terms refer to the mixing of races Cruz’s poems and plays provided a renewed understanding that began during colonial times (i.e., white/indigenous: of the ideas of beauty and justice. Her reflections, written

31 in a sociocultural context almost deaf to the voices of wom- Our Tradition en, resound until today with prophetic and intellectually The Catholic intellectual tradition is ultimately an in- stimulating voice. In the second part of the 20th century, vitation to listen to all voices, past and present. We must Mexican-American theologian Virgilio Elizondo, drawing engage the interpreters of today and yesterday, all root- from the experience of his own cultural community, invited ed in the particularity of our contexts and shaped by the Christians to a reencounter with Jesus. Not just an abstract uniqueness of our own stories. This is how the Church de- or merely triumphant Jesus, but a flesh-and-blood Galilean velops, interprets, and hands on her tradition. U.S. Latino who lived and preached in the midst of difficulties, experi- Catholics have much to say in this regard. The places, enced real marginalization, was nurtured by relationships documents, buildings, expressions, rituals, and practices with real people, and was unjustly crucified; someone to imbued with the richness of Latino Catholicism are already whom anyone could relate. important contributions to defining what it means to be And there are the voices of the people in the everyday. a Catholic in the United States—religiously and intellec- To fully appreciate the impact of Latino Catholicism in the tually. But more important than these are the people, the life of the Church in the United States and its intellectual millions of Latinos and Latinas whose presence is steadily tradition, we must walk where Latinos walk and live where transforming the overall American Catholic experience. Latinos live. U.S. Latino Catholic theologians have inten- Without a doubt, the development of the Catholic tionally embraced a model of reflection that interprets the intellectual tradition in the United States in the 21st expressions and practices that give life to Latino Catholics century will be intimately associated with the Latino with them, not for them. This demands a special commit- Catholic experience. One can only look forward to those ment to listening to the voices of the people—many of places where the intellectual articulation of Catholicism is them living in the margins of Church and society. Scholars studied to engage U.S. Latinos in conversation. Whether can spend countless hours speculating about the history the conversation takes place at home where the Latino and meaning of las posadas (an Advent ritual that brings family gathers to pray before an altarcito (small altar) or people together to reenact Mary and Joseph’s journey to in the university classroom where scholars retrieve the Bethlehem searching for a place to stay the night). But it contributions of Latinos to Catholic intellectual life, we is when we celebrate the ritual in a Latino community, for must listen. At times these voices speak loudly; sometimes instance with immigrants searching for jobs and a better they may whisper in languages that we don’t always know life for their children or with a single mother who does but mysteriously understand. But we must listen attentively. not have enough to pay her rent, that one truly captures After all, it is our tradition. its deepest meaning. Any intellectual approximation to the practices and expressions that embody the richness of the HOSFFMAN OSPINO is the assistant professor of Hispanic Ministry and Religious Education at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry. Latino Catholicism must always be preceded by a moment PHOTO CREDIT: Page 31: Mission San Francisco Solano altar. Photo: Y. Hirao. of listening to people’s voices—our voices.

THE HOLY COUNTENANCE Because Jesus Christ walks with us, we know he is real. Because we crucifix. He encounters us, above all, as he accompanies us on the have come to know him as our constant companion, we know that Way of the Cross, the innocent victim who continues to cry out to he is indeed who he says he is: “the way, the truth, and the life.” The God even at the moment of deepest anguish. Salvadoran Jesuit Jon Sobrino writes, “Christ’s credibility is assured No doubt, popular religious expressions such as the Way of the as far as the poor are concerned, for he maintained his nearness Cross sometimes reflect distorted, simplistic, even dangerous to them to the end. In this sense the cross of Jesus is seen as the views of God or the self. At least as great a threat to true faith, paramount symbol of Jesus’ approach to the poor, and hence the however, is the relegation of God to a distant corner of our world guarantee of his indisputable credibility.” This is indeed a God who by emphasizing the immaterial, absolutely transcendent, and stayed with us, who resides in our midst—not just “spiritually” but inscrutable nature of God. The danger of reducing the paschal concretely in every aspect of our world. That is how we know this event to a cross without a resurrection, for instance, is matched God is real. It is not our Christian belief that makes God’s nearness by the danger of preaching a Christ without a face, without a body, credible. Rather, it is God’s nearness that makes Christian belief, without wounds, a cross without a corpus. especially the paschal mystery, credible. — Roberto Goizueta The Christ of Latino/a Catholics encounters us through his wounded, Margaret O’Brien Flatley Chair bleeding, holy countenance, the Divino Rostro (Holy Countenance) in Catholic Theology at Boston College

seen on the walls of millions of Latino/a homes. He encounters us Excerpted from “The Symbolic Realism of the U.S. Latino/a Popular through his body, beaten and broken as it hangs lifeless from the Catholicism,” in , 65 (2004).

32 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013

Greek ideal, “Know thyself,” and the this is honeycombed with discussions, Roman ideal, “Rule thyself,” a third retreats, and activities that challenge formula, the example of Jesus gives students to renew their faith, to us, “Give thyself,” the highest exercise engage in critical social problems, to of freedom and the most perfect consider professions for reasons other expression of our humanity. To make than self-interest. What is evident is a a gift of ourselves in the words of John commitment to the holistic nurturing Paul II is the only true path to human of students’ body, mind, and spirit.” fulfillment. This is what it means to be Nathan Hatch, President of Wake Forest University a man or woman for others.” Keynote Address, “Religion and the Liberal Aims of During the fall 2012 semester, Boston Higher Education” College began its Sesquicentennial Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, OFM Cap Celebration. We offer selected Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston Remarks, Mass of the Holy Spirit, Fenway Park remarks from the Sesquicentennial events that reflect the theme of the Catholic intellectual tradition. To “The Jesuit tradition has been deeply watch the videos of these events in committed … to the principle that an their entirety, visit bc.edu/150. education is not just about knowledge, but also about how to live a life. Boston “… one of our tasks is to review the College has for 150 years sustained vision that we have, make sure that this tradition, founded in empathy, it’s clear, grounded in our tradition… outreach, and service… Boston “If you think of your education as a gift We hear a lot about the word vision, College graduates are asked to carry given you to be grasped, as something but it’s a word that, for me, suggests forward that larger sense of purpose, in that you’ve achieved and will hold a way of seeing and conceiving the words of Fr. Leahy, by ‘shaping the that is transformative, that offers onto, if you think of your education future … with a sense of calling, with as a training to make more money or realizable ideals so compelling that concern for all of the human family….’ individuals are energized and willing get a better job, if you think that your to invest themselves in an activity or “Our task [in a university] is to education is all about your success in an enterprise far more effectively and illuminate the past and shape the future, being able to provide for yourself and extensively then they could ever have to define human aspirations for the your family, all of which are great and imagined. Vision that is effective, that’s long term. How can we look past the wonderful goods, but if you think that’s compelling, captures in a concise, immediate and the useful, beyond what what’s central to your education, then I convincing fashion the aspirations and I have called the ‘myopic present,’ to must say that I think you’re unworthy ambitions of an institution, of a group address the larger conundrum of: How of your education. The reason to be of people, and it does that in a way that shall we best live? Who do I want to educated is to teach somebody else. inspires and sustains. So most simply, a be today – and tomorrow? To discover You’ve never fully grasped the fruits of vision challenges, encourages and calls not only the ways in which human your education until you give it away people to engagement and greatness.” civilization plans to get somewhere, to another. The measure of the success Fr. William P. Leahy, S.J. but to ask the question, ‘Where does of your education at Boston College President of Boston College it – and where should it – hope to go?’” or Boston College High School is the Closing Remarks, “Religion and the Liberal Aims of Drew Gilpin Faust measure to which people who never Higher Education” President of Harvard University got to come to Boston College, the Sesquicentennial Speaker and Medal Recipient measure to which their lives are richer, “A Jesuit education has always and fuller, more genuinely human because everywhere been considered a treasure. “Jesuits have believed in the you did go to Boston College; that St. Ignatius of Loyola has inspired redemptive power of education, and it’s enabling you to give something to an education ministry with the first have built schools, colleges, and others. And in that process, for the Jesuit school launched in 1548 and has universities wherever they have gone. first time, you will fully possess it. You prepared thousands upon thousands Their impulse has been to engage never own what you don’t give away. to live lives of discipleship in the the world with serious thought and And what you do give away you can Church, lives of leadership and service reflection. Boston College, like many never lose.” through an education in Christian of its peers, is indeed a flourishing Fr. Michael Himes humanism. In the Ratio Studiorum, in experiment in Catholic and Jesuit Professor of the Theology Department which Christian humanism adds to the higher education.... A campus like Homily, Mass of the Holy Spirit, Fenway Park

“…the Catholic Church clearly acknowledges the presence of elements of truth and grace in other religions. This has led to the development in recent decades of the discipline of comparative theology, in which theologians engage other religions in an open, constructive, and at times critical way in order to advance Christian theological reﬂection.”

he question of the status of other religions in continues to exist in the Catholic and Apostolic Church, God’s plan of salvation has occupied the Catholic to which the Lord Jesus entrusted the task of spreading it Tintellectual tradition from its very beginning. among all people” (Dominus Iesus 23). Christian thinkers of the first centuries such as Justyn The two basic principles of Christian faith that have oc- Martyr (100–167) and Irenaeus (120–203) Tertullian (155– cupied reflection on other religions in the Catholic intellec- 235) or Origen (185–254) were primarily concerned with tual tradition are on the one hand belief in the Uniqueness defending Christian faith against the accusations by other of Jesus Christ as mediator of salvation (John 14:6, Acts religions while also acknowledging elements of truth in the 4:12) and on the other the universal salvific will of God teachings of the prophets and of Greek philosophers. While (1 Tim 2:4, Acts 14:17, Rom 2:6-7). Catholic reflection on Christianity was understood as the ultimate truth, meant other religions has tried to keep these two principles in bal- to replace all other religions, Justin Martyr introduced the ance, although one or the other may have come to dominate idea that the “seed of the Word” (logos spermatikos) may have in particular historical periods, often in response to exter- already been at work before the incarnation, and Eusebius nal circumstances or to exaggerated emphasis on the other of Caesarea (263–339) later expanded into a positive evalu- principle. In the centuries prior to Vatican II, the Catholic ation of pre-Christian traditions, in particular Greek phi- approach to salvation has tended to be defined by the ad- losophy, as a preparation for the truth of the Gospel (prepa- age “outside of the Church there is no salvation” (extra ration evangelica). Relatively little has changed since that ecclesiam nulla salus). This expression, attributed to Cyprian time in the official attitude of the Catholic Church toward (200–258) was originally not directed to non-Christians, non-Christian religions. The most recent documents of the but to those who threatened to cause schism in the Church Magisterium of the Catholic Church reiterate these same following the Decian persecutions of the first centuries. In points. The Vatican II document Nostra Aetate, for exam- time, the expression did come to include “heathens, Jews, ple, states that “although differing in many ways from her and heretics” who, as the council of Florence (1438–1445) own teaching, these [other religions] nevertheless often re- put it, would not enter eternal life, but would “go to the flect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men” (2) And eternal fire which was prepared by the devil and his angels, the 2001 document Dominus Iesus acknowledges that “some unless, before the end of their life they become part of the prayers and rituals of the other religions may assume a role Church.” The discovery of continents and peoples who had of preparation for the Gospel, in that they are occasions or never had been exposed to Christian revelation led to new pedagogical helps in which the human heart is prompted to reflection on the necessity of baptism and of the Church be open to the action of God” (21, also 12). But both docu- for salvation. Thomas Aquinas had introduced the category ments proclaim that Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth and of “invincible ignorance” to refer to those who through no the life” (John 14:6) in whom “men may find the fullness fault of their own had not come to know Christ. And the of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Council of Trent developed a distinction between actual himself” (Nostra Aetate 2) and that “the one true religion baptism (in re) and baptism of desire (in voto) that applied to

34 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 all those who, while not having received the sacrament, still Rahner. There has been much discussion about whether or manifested signs of personal holiness. The rapid expansion not the document Nostra Aetate recognizes other religions of knowledge about and encounter with other religions in as means of salvation. The most interesting fact, however, the past few centuries has led to renewed reflection on the is that the document does not make any pronouncements relationship of the Church to non-Christian religions. Any on the issue. As Catholics, we are called to testify to the ex- literal understanding of the expression “extra ecclesiam nulla perience of salvation in Jesus Christ. But we simply cannot salus” (as in the case of Leonard Feeney, S.J.) came to be know whether or not salvation may be mediated through rejected by the Church. While theological reflection on the other religious traditions. We can neither affirm nor deny question of salvation of non-Christians became polarized it. The silence of Nostra Aetate may thus be seen as an ex- between exclusivists, who emphasize the necessity of faith pression of great wisdom. in Jesus Christ, and pluralists, who recognize all religions While the question of the salvific nature of other re- as means of salvation, the Catholic Church and Catholic ligions thus remains a mute point, the Catholic Church theologians have on the whole maintained a middle, inclu- clearly acknowledges the presence of elements of truth and sivist position, acknowledging elements of grace in other grace in other religions. This has led to the development religions while maintaining that all salvation and grace in recent decades of the discipline of comparative theology, comes through the person of Jesus Christ. in which theologians engage other religions in an open, One of the remarkable features about the Catholic intel- constructive, and at times critical way in order to advance

lectual tradition lies in the fact that it has tended to refrain Christian theological reflection. This occurs through the from any definitive judgment on the salvific value of other systematic engagement of the sacred texts of other tradi- religions. One might argue that the strong emphasis on the tions (as in the series Christian Commentaries of non-Chris- necessity of baptism and of the Church for salvation im- tian Sacred Texts) or through theological reflection on cer- plies a rejection of all other religions as means of salvation. tain teachings, rituals, or philosophical traditions. This has Some Catholic theologians, such as Karl Rahner, S.J., did come to represent one of the most innovative and creative go so far as to recognize other religions as means of salva- avenues of Christian theological thought, one that both re- tion. In the second of his four theses on Christianity and spects the distinctiveness of other religions and holds open the non-Christian Religions, he argues that a non-Christian the possibility of genuine mutual learning. religion could be recognized as a “lawful religion (although CATHERINE CORNILLE is the chair of the theology department at Boston only in different degrees)” or as “a positive means of gain- College. ing the right relationship to God and thus for the attaining PHOTO CREDIT: Page 35: Pope Benedict XVI and the Dalai Lama exchange of salvation, a means which is therefore positively included greetings. Photo: Mazur/Catholicnews.org.uk in God’s plan of salvation.” This, however, goes beyond what the Church has formally taught, either before or since

hen teaching the Bible to famous distinction, real knowledge as First, the truly wise persons have my undergraduates I al- opposed to notional knowledge. a vision in which they see, with some Wways ask them, when we This understanding of wisdom as a clarity, some larger connection of get to the sapiential books of the Old kind of deeper knowledge reﬁned by their work, no matter how recondite Testament, if they know a wise person. intelligence and tempered by human it might be, with the larger pursuit of I tell them not to think of smart per- experience is, when experienced, a pre- knowledge and how that pursuit mesh- sons (they are a dime a dozen in uni- cious thing. That experience is especial- es with intelligibility. Newman caught versities) but of wise persons. Almost ly gratifying when it is grasped in the this perfectly in his 14th university inevitably they will mention their intellectual life. In the university one sermon where he said that “a philo- grandparents and often add the coda meets quite intelligent and sometimes sophical cast of thought, or a compre- that those elders often did not have a brilliant people who are in full grip of hensive mind, or a wisdom in conduct lot of formal education. What these their discipline. They have a passion for and policy, implies a connected view of undergraduates intuit is that people their “ﬁeld” and the expertise to deep- the old with the new; an insight into who have had some experience in life en it. They possess the tools requisite the bearing of each part with the other; not only possess some practical intel- for the advancement of knowledge. Are without which there is no whole, and ligence but that their intelligence has we to number among these experts and could be no center. It is the knowledge, been honed and perfected by the life authorities authentically wise persons? not only of things, but of their mutual experience of making a living, skirting How do we recognize them when we relations. It is organized and therefore sickness, experiencing loss, knowing do encounter them? I am not sure that living knowledge.”1 disappointment, and understanding I have a complete answer to that ques- To acquire that vision demands a that there are fewer years ahead and a tion but it seems to me that the wise humility before the search for truth lot more already passed. They are gain- intellectual shows forth some charac- since no person grasps the whole fully ing, to borrow John Henry Newman’s teristic qualities. (i.e., my little research result is not the

36 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013 end all and be all of knowledge) while, tic learning to the spiritual life of the we learn the truth once expressed by St. at the same time, permitting the intel- monk, his title points to a larger point, Augustine that God is nearer to us than lectual task at hand to be seen in the namely, that the desire to learn is, gen- we are to ourselves. expanding horizon of the human quest erally, a desire for God. That point is However, that “God” is not the for intelligibility. Thus, at the same absolutely fundamental to the Catholic god of the philosophers, to borrow a time, one is grounded humbly by limit understanding of the world in which term from Pascal. For the Christian and exalted by finding a momentary we live because Christianity holds that, that horizon of intelligibility is the glimpse of the larger reality of human finally, there is intelligibility available Logos who brings into existence cre- capacity. Within the Catholic tradition to us who live in this world. This intel- ation, who prompted prophetic wis- this drive toward intelligibility is a turn ligibility is available to us even though dom, and, finally, took flesh and dwells to the source of intelligibility that we grasping it may involve a subtle and among us. St. John of the Cross, echo- name God. lifelong search for some, even though ing both Aquinas and Augustine, once That fundamental orientation to- others may see it in a blinding intuition. said that the Father uttered one Word ward the source of all that is true helps In the final analysis, the love of learn- and having once spoken needs speak to describe the intellectual life as one, ing means that capacity to be open to no more. To know fully is to know that not marked by career, but by vocation. what is ahead; to see (if I may borrow Logos about whom St. Paul rightly as- That orientation is not always at the the language of the phenomenologists serted: “He himself is before all things fore but it stands, tacitly, in the exercise for a moment) that ever enlarging ho- and in him all things hold together” of seeking to know. Every approxima- rizon that stands before us. That kind (Colossians 1: 17). Armed with that tion toward a truth is to become nearer of intellectual openness rests in both a conviction we can rightly say that all to God because, as the Angelic Doctor species of faith that there is something learning is not only symphonic but can rightly says, “every truth comes from more in tandem with a hope that the be salvific. God” (ST 1.q.16 5 ad 3). “more” can be approached. LAWRENCE CUNNINGHAM is a John A. O’Brien The intellectual life has as its end That horizon, always before us and Professor of Theology (Emeritus) at the University of not only the cultivation of personal always expanding, can be described as Notre Dame. spirituality. Gladly, Chaucer says of God—not a being that is above us but as PHOTO CREDIT: Page 36 God Alone Gate, Abbey of the scholar, does he learn and teach. the foundation and background against Gethsemani, Trappist, Kentucky, 2012. Courtesy of To be learned, which is to say, to cul- which all understanding takes places. Br. Paul Quenon, OCSO. tivate wisdom, is contagious if only in It is both immanent and transcendent 1John Henry Newman. the sense that it draws others to that rather the way silence is to music. To wisdom. Every educated person can yearn for that horizon is a kind of prayer remember a teacher (or teachers) who and in that yearning (often inarticulate) provided the spark that set them on fire intellectually. What the student learned was not mere facts (important THE STONE NOT CUT BY HAND at those facts may be) but that attrac- The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. tive power of learning, which is the Nebuchadnezzar stared while the prophet blazed. thirst for “more.” Once, when asked by an overly empirically minded research- A stone not cut, stormed Daniel, by any human hand, er, of what value my work was for stu- however self-assured or self-deluded. Understand: dents, my response was simple and It is the Lord has quarried here. The king’s eyes glazed, heart felt: “I want students to acquire because all he knew was earthly power: kings who razed a love for learning.” It only takes a mo- entire cities—dogs, women, babies, mules, the very land. ment’s reflection to understand that to pass on that gift to a young person is to Kings whose subjects, high & low, did their each command. give them a gift for their whole lives. A stone not quarried by any hand but God’s. Amazed, My conviction that as a professor the king fell back before the prophet’s words. A stone my aim ought to instill a love for learn- that would smash each self-important, self-made idol, ing does have a tiny hidden agenda but whether built of gold or steel or any other thing their throne one appropriate for a teacher of theology. Two generations ago the late Dom was made of. Yes, whatever insane, grand mal, suicidal Jean Leclercq wrote a book with the impulse kings could conjure up. A stone shaped by God alone. wonderful title The Love of Learning and Womb-warm, lamb-gentle, world-wielding, tidal. the Desire for God. Although his book – Paul Mariani was about the relationship of monas-

37 st the church in the 21 century center non-profit boston college organization heffernan house u.s. postage 110 college rd. chestnut hill, ma 02467 paid boston, massachusetts permit no. 55294

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“For the Catholic intellectual tradition to achieve the wholeness to which it has aspired for two millennia, it must be engaged in the search for truth in every discipline and with all forms of belief and unbelief. It is a living tradition, not static traditionalism, which draws from the riches of the past to give life to the future.”

The full 10-page booklet may be viewed online at www.bc.edu/church21. Complimentary print copies may be requested by e-mailing [email protected] or calling 617-552-0470.

38 BOSTON COLLEGE | C 21 RESOURCES | SPRING 2013